§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what import duties are applied by the European Union to(a) dairy products and (b) meat products from each country of supply; and what subsidies are given on the same goods exported from the EU. [78942]
§ Mr. Rooker[holding answer 26 March 1999]: Figures for the annual import duties applied by the European Union to meat and dairy products are published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, L 292, Volume 41, 30 October 1998, entitled: "Commission Regulation (EC) number 2261/98 of 26 October 1998" amending Annex 1 to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff.
Additional import duties may be applied on entry to the European Union when certain poultrymeat products are imported at very low prices that may disrupt the internal market. Commission Regulation No 1484/95 implements the system for applying additional duties in the poultrymeat sector, which is published in the Official Journal of the European Communities L 145, 29 June 1995. In order to implement the WTO Brazil/EU Disputes Panel ruling this was amended by Commission Regulation No 623/1999 introducing a new system for calculation which took effect on 25 March 1999. Some imports of beef and veal are allowed into the Community under certain limited concessionary import schemes, but these concessions are limited to a quantity of beef that amounts to 5 per cent. of total community production.
Export refunds for certain dairy products are published in Commission Regulation (EC) No 532/1999 of 11 March 1999, fixing the export refunds on milk and milk products which can be found in the Official Journal of the European Communities, L 63, 12 March 1999. Export refunds for certain pigmeat products are published in Commission Regulation (EC) No 332/1999 of 12 February 1999, which can be found in Official Journal of the European Communities, L 40, 13 February 1999. The latest rates of export refunds for beef and veal were published on 16 March 1999 and can be found in Commission Regulation 565/1999, which can be found in Official Journal of the European Communities, L 70 of 17 March 1999. Export refunds for certain poultrymeat products are 508W published in Commission Regulation (EC) No 395/1999 of 23 February 1999, which can be found in Official Journal of the European Communities, L 48, 24 February 1999. This reflects the remaining refund availability since quota volumes for other products under WTO rules have been exhausted for the year July 1998–99.
Copies can be found in the House Library.