asked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) what has been the cost of importing refined beet sugar into the United Kingdom to the latest available date; and what were the comparable figures for each year since 1972;(2) how much raw beet sugar has been imported into the United Kingdom to the latest available date, specifying the tonnage and country of origin in each case; and what were the comparable figures for each year since 1970;(3) how much raw cane sugar has been imported into the United Kingdom to the latest available date, specifying the tonnage and country of origin in each case; and what were the comparable figures for each year since 1970;
(4) what has been the cost of importing raw beet sugar into the United Kingdom to the latest available date; and what were the comparable figures for each year since 1972;
(5) what tonnage of refined cane sugar is being exported to each of the EEC countries to the latest available date; and what were the comparable figures for each year since 1972;
(6) what tonnage of British Sugar Corporation refined beet sugar is being exported to each of the EEC countries at the latest available date; and what were the comparable figures for each year since 1972;
| 1. VALUE OF IMPORTS | ||||||||
| (£ million cif) | ||||||||
January—June
| ||||||||
1972
| 1973
| 1974
| 1975
| 1976
| 1977
| 1977
| 1978
| |
| Raw sugars | 125·7 | 149·3 | 263·6 | 453·3 | 322·6 | 310·7 | 132·6 | 104·9 |
| Refined sugars, etc. | 7·0 | 1·9 | 68·0 | 134·9 | 55·3 | 57·1 | 35·3 | 43·5 |
| II. RAW SUGAR—VOLUME OF IMPORTS 1970–74 WITH PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF CONSIGNMENT | ||||||
Imperial tons (thousands)
| ||||||
1970
| 1971
| 1972
| 1973
| 1974
| ||
| Total of which consigned from: | … | 1,799·8 | 1,911·4 | 2,024·8 | 1,994·4 | 1,851·1 |
| Mauritius | … | 401·9 | 310·6 | 413·3 | 376·9 | 409·3 |
| Australia | … | 340·5 | 596·8 | 450·6 | 315·1 | 347·1 |
| Brazil | … | — | — | 18·4 | 73·9 | 153·8 |
| Guyana | … | 167·9 | 194·0 | 208·8 | 181·7 | 148·9 |
| Jamaica | … | 238·1 | 227·5 | 231·8 | 258·8 | 135·9 |
| Fiji | … | 136·5 | 130·5 | 139·9 | 114·1 | 134·3 |
| Swaziland | … | 94·5 | 84·8 | 86·9 | 71·5 | 87·2 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | … | 142·5 | 134·8 | 150·7 | 129·8 | 68·6 |
| Cuba | … | 31·4 | 34·7 | 40·5 | 126·2 | 66·8 |
| Barbados | … | 118·1 | 115·0 | 99·2 | 110·1 | 49·3 |
| Belize | … | 20·5 | 20·5 | 25·3 | 20·4 | 28·9 |
| France | … | 18·2 | 1·0 | — | 44·0 | 16·3 |
| Other countries | … | 89·7 | 61·2 | 159·4 | 171·9 | 204·7 |
| III. RAW SUGAR—VOLUME OF IMPORTS 1975 ONWARDS WITH PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN | ||||||
Thousand tonnes
| ||||||
January-June
| ||||||
1975
| 1976
| 1977
| 1977
| 1978
| ||
| Total of which consigned from: | … | 1,714·6 | 1,817·3 | 1,598·1 | 800·1 | 517·7 |
| Mauritius | … | 414·4 | 497·5 | 477·6 | 204·6 | 176·4 |
| Fiji | … | 208·4 | 132·7 | 194·3 | 52·3 | 31·7 |
| Guyana | … | 138·3 | 192·3 | 161·7 | 71·1 | 62·1 |
| Jamaica | … | 123·7 | 148·2 | 131·3 | 73·2 | 18·3 |
| Swaziland | … | 101·3 | 156·3 | 111·5 | 30·1 | 33·7 |
| France | … | 93·6 | 75·6 | 104·4 | 94·8 | 8·0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | … | 73·7 | 75·3 | 90·4 | 61·3 | 45·2 |
| Reunion | … | — | 19·3 | 84·7 | 42·2 | 10·1 |
| Brazil | … | 94·1 | 89·9 | 67·6 | 54·4 | 7·6 |
| Australia | … | 51·7 | 135·7 | 49·5 | 49·5 | 28·6 |
| Belize | … | 37·9 | 44·1 | 47·1 | 19·4 | 13·7 |
| Barbados | … | 50·2 | — | 21·8 | 21·8 | 1·5 |
| Cuba | … | 11·2 | 127·6 | — | — | — |
| Other countries | … | 316·1 | 122·8 | 56·2 | 25·4 | 80·8 |
Note: Imports of raw sugars originating from the countries listed in Tables II and III are likely all to have been cane sugar, except those from metropolitan France which can be assumed to have been beet.
(7) what amount of refined white sugar has been imported into the United Kingdom in 1978, to the latest available date; and what were the comparable figures for each year since 1972 from each of the following countries: Denmark, Luxembourg, Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Italy and Germany.
The overseas trade statistics do not differentiate between beet and cane sugars, and details of imports by country of origin are not available for so far back as 1970. Following is the available information:
| IV. REFINED SUGAR—VOLUME OF TRADE WITH INDIVIDUAL EEC COUNTRIES | ||||||||
Tonnes
| ||||||||
January-May
| ||||||||
1972
| 1973
| 1974
| 1975
| 1976
| 1977
| 1977
| 1978
| |
Imports
| ||||||||
| France | 3,221 | 3,730 | 99,780 | 195,217 | 26,736 | 4,219 | 808 | 13,554 |
| Belgium-Luxembourg | 520 | 513 | 41,651 | 109,349 | 16,241 | 1,372 | 467 | 317 |
| Netherlands | 15,073 | 1,817 | 12,236 | 13,277 | 10,168 | 20,461 | 6,499 | 20,230 |
| Federal Republic of Germany | 20 | 44 | 97,462 | 92,958 | 45,671 | 52,273 | 26,145 | 22,310 |
| Italy | — | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Irish Republic | 10,113 | 10,602 | 12,727 | 46,488 | 27,830 | 47,145 | 15,305 | 12,517 |
| Denmark | 3,986 | — | 62,697 | 99,507 | 87,643 | 91,066 | 42,679 | 39,053 |
Exports
| ||||||||
| France | 21 | 44 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 210 | 5 | 11 |
| Belgium-Luxembourg | 57 | 24 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 39 | 2 | 24 |
| Netherlands | 6,782 | 2,112 | 400 | 35 | 540 | 10 | 2 | 24 |
| Federal Republic of Germany | 2,898 | 4,048 | 1,049 | 1,343 | 207 | 846 | 670 | 331 |
| Italy | 9 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 6 | 31 | 19 | 37 |
| Irish Republic | 5,324 | 8,133 | 1,764 | 4,227 | 13,278 | 1,960 | 272 | 260 |
| Denmark | 71 | 24 | 121 | 172 | 148 | 242 | 205 | 88 |