asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions have taken place with the EEC Commission and within the Council of Ministers, respectively, concerning the proposal to limit intervention buying of beef to hindquarters only; what would be the expected consequences of such action on the retatil price of beef and on producers' returns; and if he will make a statement.
No proposal has been made by the Commission to limit intervention buying of beef to hindquarters only. Agreement was reached in the EEC Beef Management Committee on 7th May that several changes should be made in the intervention arrangements for beef. These included a decision that separate hindquarters will no longer be accepted into intervention. I do not expect that the changes will greatly affect producers' returns in the United Kingdom because the support for the United Kingdom beef market is given primarily through the premium scheme and not through intervention. But the effect of the changes should be to reduce the amount of beef taken into intervention in the Community as a whole and to make available more beef to the consumer, especially of the better quality hindquarter cuts.I welcome these changes as continuing evidence of the ability of this important sector of the common agricultural policy to respond flexibly to changing circumstances and of a wider recognition within the Community of the disadvantages of excessive reliance on intervention to support the beef market.