Organic Food (Hansard, 28 October 1993)

§ Dr. Strang
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the future of the United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards following changes to the structure of Food from Britain.

§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard
For the time being Food From Britain retains its responsibility for the United Kingdom register of organic food standards—UKROFS—but the secretariat is about to be relocated within my Department. I value UKROFS' independence and effectiveness and want to maintain these through the decisions that need to be taken about UKROFS' longer-term future.

§ Dr. Strang
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures she intends to take to promote organic farming in the United Kingdom.

§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard
The Government are keen to encourage farmers to meet the growing demand from consumers for organic produce. The United Kingdom register of organic food standards was established by Food From Britain with funding from MAFF in 1987.
On 10 August, I announced proposals for an aid scheme to farmers in England wishing to convert to organic production methods. It is proposed to launch the scheme this winter and expenditure is planned to rise to £1.5 million by 1995–96. Similar schemes were announced by my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and Wales and my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
The organic sector can benefit from the group marketing grant scheme, and its successor on which we are currently seeking the views of the industry.
In addition to the organic scheme, the broad range of other MAFF support schemes are open to organic farmers. We also spend some £1 million per annum on research and development specifically related to organic agriculture and advice on organic farming from ADAS.

§ Dr. Strang
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the value of imported organic food produce in(a) real and (b) cash terms for each year since 1980.

§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard
This information is not available because import statistics do not distinguish between organic and conventional food.

§ Dr. Strang
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of the consumption of organic produce in each EC member state is met from domestic production.

§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard
This information is not available.