Milk (Hansard, 11 January 1994)

§ Mr. Clifton-Brown
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reasons underlay the change in instructions to the Milk Marketing Board concerning the butterfat base of transferred milk quota.

§ Mr. Jack
The Ministry's supplementary note on the butterfat base of converted milk quota reflects guidance issued in November by the European Commission which clarifies the application of the provisions in the EC regulations. We are bound by the EC regulations and have no discretion as regards their implementation.
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§ Mr. Clifton-Brown
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the new rules regarding butterfat base will come into operation; and if they apply to applications already received by the Milk Marketing Board for which the market price has been agreed.

§ Mr. Jack
The Commission's clarification of the rules concerning the calculation of the butterfat base of direct sales quota converted into wholesale quota applies to all applications to convert quota since the beginning of the current quota year on 1 April 1993.

§ Mr. Fabricant
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the effect of article 7 of Commission regulation 1546/86 on the allocation of milk quota to landlords who are not operating a holding.

§ Mr. Jack
Article 7 of Commission regulation (EEC) No. 1546/88, which was repealed in 1993 and replaced by Council regulation (EEC) No. 3950/92 and Commission regulation (EEC) No. 536/93, deals with the transfer of milk quota. Where an entire holding is transferred, the corresponding quota is transferred in full to the producer who takes over the holding. Where part or parts of a holding are transferred, the corresponding quota is distributed among the producers operating the holding in proportion to the areas used for milk production. Where the transfer takes place as a result of the termination of a tenancy, the producer taking over the holding might be the landlord. A holding is defined as all the production units operated by the producer within a member state of the Community.

§ Mr. Fabricant
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement about the allocation of milk quota to landlords who are not operating a holding.

§ Mr. Jack
Milk quota is allocated to producers for use on land occupied by them. Landlords may hold quota only if they are in occupation of a holding.

§ Mr. Fabricant
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under which article of the Dairy Produce Quota Regulations 1989 he instructs the president of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors to appoint an arbitrator to act between a landlord, transferer and transferee.

§ Mr. Jack
The Dairy Produce Quotas Regulations 1989 now superseded by the Dairy Produce Quotas Regulations 1993, required that where there was a transfer of part of a holding the apportionment of quota relating to that holding had to be notified to the Minister within two months. The transferer and transferee were also required to sign a statement agreeing on the apportionment of milk quota according to the areas used for milk production, and the transferer had to supply a consent or sole interest notice in respect of the entirety of the holding. Where these requirements were not fulfilled, the apportionment had to be determined by arbitration. Paragraph 1(3) of schedule 4 provided for the Minister to apply to the president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for the appointment of an arbitrator, if within two months of the transfer, no arbitrator had been appointed by the parties.
The parties to an arbitration would usually be the transferer and transferee. Landlords have an interest in any 49W quota apportionment in respect of a holding owned wholly or partly by them because of the clear link established in the EC regulations between quota and land. If a landlord with an interest in the holding does not sign the consent notice then this would require the apportionment to be decided by arbitration.

§ Mr. Clifton-Brown
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consideration has been given to the position of producers who have high butterfat producing breeds of cows in respect of the changes in the rules about the butterfat base of milk.

§ Mr. Jack
The EC regulations on the butterfat base for milk do not specifically provide for producers who have high butterfat producing breeds of cows, except where the producer's entire wholesale quota has been allocated from the national reserve and where production commenced after 1 April 1992. Producers in this position are required to provide proof each year that they maintain within their herd breeds of animals which justify a higher than average butterfat base.