§ Mr. Geoffrey RobinsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much per tonne is given to European farmers for growing sugar beet; and what is the value on the world market of sugar per tonne.
§ Mr. JackIn the 1994–95 marketing year, European growers should receive, from those to whom they sell, at least the Community-established minimum prices of 38.69 ecu/tonne—£36.89/tonne1—and 23.89 ecu/tonne£2.78/tonne1—respectively, for sugar beet contributing to A and B quota sugar.
Currently, quota sugar is being sold on the world market, with the aid of export refunds, at around 340 ecu/tonne—£324.22/tonne1. The cost of the refunds is largely offset by production levies on growers and processors.
Although the facility for intervention exists within the regime, no sugar is currently intervened, processors are paid storage aids on the tonnage they hold, the costs of the scheme being covered by a levy at point of first sale.
11 ecu = £0.953575