§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the UK's share of the proceeds arising from the liquidation of the cocoa buffer stock will be directed towards cocoa research. [36552]
§ Mr. BaldryThe UK share of the buffer stock liquidation proceeds will, as required by Government accounting rules, be returned to the Consolidated Fund. In view of the way the buffer stock levy was collected, and in the light of strong representations from the cocoa trade and industry on the need to intensify the UK effort in advanced cocoa research, I am pleased to announce that subject to the necessary approvals, £2.2 million of voted provision will be reallocated by the Ministry in order to provide money for new research in the United Kingdom into cocoa production.
This sum will be administered through a newly established trust fund enabling key cocoa research projects to be funded and managed from the income generated by the trust fund capital. I plan to make a further announcement about the details later this year.
1470W