§ Mrs. Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to simplify the administration of milk quotas; and if she will make a statement on the benchmarking in the dairy industry. [53209]
§ Mr. MorleyThe implementation and administration of the milk quota system is under continuous review. The new Dairy Produce Quotas Regulations, which entered into force on 31 March 2002, will reduce the administrative burden on the industry by removing unnecessary requirements, such as certain deadlines, and liberalising the provisions for the permanent transfer of quota without land.
We support the use of benchmarking by the dairy sector as a useful tool in identifying and promulgating best practice. We have, for example, already supplied the Milk Development Council (MDC) with Farm Business Survey data for farms with dairy enterprises with a view to the MDC setting up on-line interactive data base which would allow dairy farmers to benchmark their businesses.
§ Mrs. Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proposals she has to encourage greater co-operation and communication between participants in the dairy supply chain arising from her Department's response to the Milk Task Force report published on 3 January. [53210]
§ Mr. MorleyWe shall take every opportunity to encourage all parts of the dairy industry to take up the recommendations of the Milk Task Force to improve communications between one another—for example between supermarkets and their suppliers—and to increase co-operative and collaborative activity—for example between processing and production and between dairy farmers. But it for the industry itself to make progress in these important areas.