HL Deb 07 March 1995 vol 562 cc12-3WA
Lord Judd

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they are taking to ensure that the forthcoming social summit in Copenhagen addresses the need to curb agricultural export dumping in the Third World.

The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Earl Howe):

The primary focus of the Copenhagen summit is to discuss people-centred development issues within a UN context. For this reason the issue of agricultural dumping has not surfaced in the negotiations.

The recent GATT agreement on agriculture contained measures to reduce the subsidised export of agricultural products over a six-year period, starting in 1995. Within the EU, the reforms of the common agricultural policy begun in 1992 have already gone a long way towards reducing surplus agricultural production, which led to the subsidising of exports to world markets. The UK continues to press for further reforms, including continuing reductions in support prices, leading to a more market-oriented CAP.