§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her most recent assessment is of the effect of the Common Agricultural Policy on the cost of the average family's weekly food purchases. [162949]
§ Alun MichaelThe consumer cost of the CAP can be estimated by examining the difference between UK and world prices for agricultural food products. Our latest provisional estimates for 2002 show a cost of the Common Agricultural Policy to a notional family of four due to higher food prices at approximately £4 to £4.50 per week.