§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funds have been allocated to the marketing and promotion of organic milk in the UK in each of the next five years; what funds have been spent in each of the years the Organic Farming Scheme has been in operation; and if he will make a statement. [85009]
§ Margaret BeckettNo funds have been allocated to the marketing and promotion of organic milk in the next five years. However, under the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP), funding is generally available for the marketing of quality agricultural produce, including organic, through the Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES), and for capital projects 25W through the Processing and Marketing Grant (PMG). Under RES, farmers and others are able to propose projects for the marketing of any organic product.
Non-capital grants are also available under the Agriculture Development Scheme. For all of these schemes, applications need to comply with scheme rules and each is considered on its merits in competition with others. State aid rules limit the extent that Government can support the promotion or advertising of agricultural produce. Previously, the organic milk sector also benefited under the Marketing Development Scheme (MDS), which is now closed to new applicants.
During the life of the Organic Farming Scheme, which since April 1999 has assisted farmers to convert land to organic farming methods, but leaves them free to decide which enterprise to pursue, the following sums have been awarded to organic milk related projects under relevant schemes:
£ Agriculture Development Scheme 2001 22,548 Marketing Development Scheme (MDS) (closed) 1999 7,908 2000 22,904 2001 6,086 Processing and Marketing Grant (PMG)1 2001–02 3,869.10 2002–03 222,860.90 (committed) 2003–04 25,235 (committed) 1 Two projects are currently being funded in England under the Processing and Marketing Grant.