§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the likely effect on UK banana importers of changes to the EU banana regime. [25957]
§ Mr. MorleyI have been asked to reply.
The EU banana regime has recently been amended to implement Phase II of the Understanding with the US and Ecuador in response to World Trade Organisation concerns and to end the long-running trade dispute. The main effects of this are to transfer 100,000 tonnes of 741W bananas from the C Quota to the A/B Quota, and to make the C Quota exclusive to bananas originating from ACP countries.
Detailed European Commission regulations are necessary for the management of the quota regime, and until these have been proposed, it is not possible to determine the effect on individual UK banana importers.
§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the outcome of the meeting of the EU Banana Management Committee on 15 November 2001. [25958]
§ Mr. MorleyI have been asked to reply.
Two European Commission proposals received favourable opinions. The first was to establish the maximum quantity of bananas which may be imported into the Community during the first quarter of 2002 by each registered operator. The second was to amend Commission Regulation 896/2001 to correct certain errors in the text as well as to clarify the rules for determining the reference quantities applicable to traditional operators in the A/B Quota.
In response to a suggestion from the UK, the chairman proposed to issue a working document on strengthening the rules prohibiting linkage between traditional and non-traditional operators.
§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimates she has made of the value of the reduction in banana imports under C licences as a result of changes to the EU banana regime in the next five years. [25956]
§ Mr. MorleyI have been asked to reply.
Under the previous arrangements (Phase I of the Understanding with the US and Ecuador), 850,000 tonnes of banana imports under C Quota licences were permitted per year. Under Phase H, the effect on banana traders registered as operators in the C Quota arise both from the transfer of 100,000 tonnes of bananas from the C Quota to the A/B Quota, and from making the C Quota exclusive to ACP countries.
Total imports from ACP countries in 1999 (the last year for which full data are available) amounted to 676,638 tonnes, with similar quantities in the previous two years. This implies that the changes made in Phase II, taken together, should enable the ACP to continue to achieve a market share comparable with that they have had in the recent past. The value of this to ACP suppliers and individual importers will depend on price developments and, in the case of importers, their licence allocations.