§ Mr. SpellarTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the policy he will be adopting at the meeting of agriculture Ministers on the allocation of tobacco quotas to Greece.
§ Mr. CurryThe Council of Agriculture Ministers in December 1992 requested the EC Commission to re-examine the distribution of quotas attributed to the various varieties of tobacco in Greece with a view to taking better account of the way the production of Virginia has developed on the basis of investments decided before 30 December 1991 and to report its conclusions as soon as possible. The Commission issued its report in March 1993, and indicated its intention to propose the following measures:
- 20 million ecu (£16 million) of Community aid and 5 million ecu (£4 million) of national aid to assist Greek producers who invested before the end of 1991 in equipment to produce flue cured tobacco and whose investment was subsequently adversely affected by the imposition of quotas;
- Unutilised Greek quota from other varieties to be made available to Virginia producers;
- Discretionary powers to enable Member States to give preference to new producers when allocating national tobacco quotas.
These measures were discussed at the March Agriculture Council and presented to the Tobacco Management Committee as Commission regulations where they were approved. This issue is not expected to be considered further by the Council.