§ Sir Giles ShawTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the OECD agreement on shipbuilding. [7847]
§ Mr. EggarThe signatory countries to the OECD agreement decided in Paris on 11 December to postpone the entry into force of the agreement from 1 January to 15 July 1996 at the latest. This was necessary to allow more time for the United States and Japan to complete their ratification of the agreement.
The Community had already decided that, if the OECD agreement could not enter into force on 1 January 1996, it would extend its current regime for shipbuilding under the seventh directive for a further nine months until 30 September 1996 or until entry into force of the OECD agreement, if earlier. The current EC regime for shipbuilding under the seventh directive will therefore now continue on this basis in 1996.
In the United Kingdom the home credit guarantee scheme will continue on its current basis until the OECD agreement enters into force in 1996. As we announced in 1263W March, the future of the scheme is under review and I will make a further announcement about the results of the review when this is completed.
An announcement about shipbuilding intervention fund grants will be made early in 1996 once the Commission has decided the level of the EC subsidy ceiling.