asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by how much sales of sugar by the Commonwealth countries fell short of the agreed quotas when the world price rose above the price agreed under the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement in any of the years since the date of its inception; and in which years Commonwealth Sugar Agreement prices have been less than ruling world prices since the commencement of the Agreement.
Ignoring under-shipments due to force majeure which were made good in the following year, the only years in which the quotas were not supplied in full were 1973, when the shortfall was 53,390 tons, and 1974, when it was 325,336 tons. The weighted average of the negotiated prices paid under the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement was below the average world price in 1951, 1963, 1972, 1973 and 1974. The two prices were virtually identical in 1957 and 1964.