§ Lord Kilclooneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans the European Commission has for import tariffs on the importation of grain from eastern Europe; and what proposals the Government have to claim agrimoney compensation for the United Kingdom arable sector. [HL947]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The European Commission asked member states represented at the Cereals Management Committee in Brussels on 11 October 2001 for their opinion on a draft regulation abolishing the supplementary import duty of 10 euro/tonne applied to imports of grain from Mediterranean, Black Sea and Baltic Sea ports. There was neither a majority in favour nor a majority against. We expect the Commission to proceed with abolition as from 9 November 2001.
As far as the UK Government's position on agrimonetary compensation for the arable sector is concerned, we refer the noble Lord to the Answer given on 31 October, Official Report, WA 168.