To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will bring up to date the information on sheepmeat and on common agricultural policy product sales in his written answers dated 28 April 1986, Official Report, columns 315–16.
The following figures show the amount by which the average market price of sheepmeat fell short of the guide price during the marketing years 1986 to 1990:
| Year | Great Britain | Northern Ireland |
| p/kg | P/kg | |
| 1986 | 42·2 | 33·5 |
| 1987 | 43·1 | 26·1 |
| 1988 | 69·7 | 38·7 |
| 1989 | 62·2 | 44·2 |
| 1990 | 83·7 | 87·2 |
| '000 tonnes | |
| EC12 | |
| Wheat | 16,635 |
| Wheat flour | 2,907 |
| Barley | 9,655 |
| Malt | 1,350 |
| Rice | 370 |
| Sugar1 | 5,035 |
| of which: raw sugar1 | 35 |
| refined sugar | 5,000 |
'000 tonnes
| |
EC12
| |
| Olive oil | 177 |
| Oilseeds | 59 |
| Whole milk powder | 502 |
| Skimmed milk powder | 324 |
| Condensed milk | 349 |
| Butter and buttermilk | 199 |
| Beef and veal | 647 |
| Sheepmeat | 6 |
| Pigmeat | 298 |
| Poultrymeat | 414 |
| Eggs | 100 |
| Wine | 1,168 |
1 Includes raw sugar converted to white sugar equivalent: 1 tonne raw sugar=0·92 tonnes white sugar. | |
Source: Eurostat.
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish a table showing for the principal agricultural products regulated under the common agricultural policy the amount of levy payable on importation from non-EEC countries, the amount of the levy and any customs duties payable, the latest United Kingdom price, the intervention or threshold price, the target price and the world price.
Information on intervention, threshold and target prices was set out in the note deposited in the Library of the House giving details of the common agricultural policy prices settlement 1991–92. Details of customs duties are contained in the "Integrated Tariff of the United Kingdom", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The remainder of the information requested is set out for the main commodities in tables 1 and 2. The world prices shown in table 1 are generally the lowest offer prices at the Community frontier underlying the Commission's calculation of variable import levies. I would remind the hon. Member that these are the lowest prices recorded and it is almost certain that higher prices on average would have to be paid for supplies if existing agricultural support policies were dismantled. The world prices shown do not necessarily relate to the same quality or presentation of products for which United Kingdom market prices are set out in table 2.
| Table 1 | ||
| Levy applicable in the United Kingdom and notional " World" price (a) on 26 October 1991 for the main traded agricultural commodities | ||
| Levy (b) applicable in the UK | Notional "world" price | |
| (£/tonne) | (£/tonne) | |
| Common wheat | 119 | 67 |
| Barley | 109 | 61 |
| Maize | 95 | 75 |
| Rice | 277 | 157 |
| Sugar | (c) 340 | 170 |
| Olive oil | 468 | 1,043 |
| Butter | (d) 1,984 | 637 |
| Skimmed milk powder | 920 | 630 |
| Cheese (Cheddar) | 1,794 | 956 |
| Beef and veal | (e) 1,990 | 1,079 |
| Pigmeat | 521 | 754 |
| Sheepmeat | (f) n/a | n/a |
| Poultrymeat | 281 | 903 |
| Eggs | 274 | 679 |
Note:
(a) "World" prices have been calculated by subtracting the levy applicable on 26 October from the threshold/guide price. The beef price is also adjusted for duty. In the case of pigmeat, poultrymeat and eggs, the "world" price has been taken as the sluicegate price for the headings defined in (b) below. The resulting estimate has been converted from ECU/t at the appropriate market rate of exchange of £0·806057=1 ECU.
(b) The rates of levy vary for different tariff headings. The rates quoted are: beef and veal—carcase; pigmeat—carcase; poultrymeat—70 per cent. chickens; rice—husked long grain; olive oil—virgin lampante: eggs—in shell.
(c) In practice the United Kingdom's imports from third countries are normally covered by the Lome Convention and enter the Community levy-free.
(d) A special lower rate of levy is applicable to imports of butter from New Zealand.
(e) Most imports of beef from third countries are subject to special arrangements allowing entry at reduced levy rates.
(f) Imports of lamb under voluntary restraint arrangements with principal suppliers and related agreements enter free of charge. Any imports outside these arrangements are subject to levies which cannot exceed the 20 per cent. tariff bound in the GATT.
Table 2
| |
Selected average market/wholesale prices United Kingdom
| |
Prices are for week ending 26 October 1991 unless otherwise stated
| |
£/tonne
| |
| Wheat (grower to merchant price, all purchases, England and Wales) | 1125 |
| Barley (grower to merchant price, all purchases, England and Wales) | 1117 |
| Maize (USA cif N. Europe) | 2117 |
| Rice (US long grain rice 10 per cent, maximum broken) | 3657 |
| Sugar (Refined bulk granulated) | 583 |
| Butter (Great Britain salted) | 2,123 |
| Skimmed Milk Powder | 41,450 |
| Cheddar Cheese (English mild white creamery) | 2,075 |
| Fat Cattle (Great Britain all clean cattle, liveweight) | 1,036 |
| Beef (Scotch killed sides, Smithfield) | 2,127 |
| Fat Sheep (Certified Great Britain, estimated dressed carcase weight) | 1,108 |
| Fat Pigs (All pigs, deadweight) | 963 |
| Poultry Meat (Broilers, liveweight) | 547 |
| Eggs (Size 3, packer to producer price) | 491 |
| Olive oil | 5— |
June 1990 England and Wales (excluding minor holdings)
| |||||
Table 1. Holdings by crops and grass size groups
| |||||
Hectares
| <50
| 50–<100
| 100–<200
| 200 and over
| Total
|
| Holdings (thousands) | 115·4 | 31·1 | 17·1 | 7·9 | 171·5 |
| Crops and grass (thousands hectares) | 2,035·3 | 2,197·9 | 2,348·5 | 2,707·6 | 9,289·3 |
Table 2. Holdings by beef cow size groups
| |||||
Head
| 1–9
| 10–39
| 40–49
| 50 and over
| Total
|
| Holdings (thousands) | 22·5 | £7·1 | 2·0 | 4·3 | 45·8 |
| Beef cows (thousand head) | 87·7 | 347·5 | 86·8 | 357·9 | 879·9 |
Table 3. Holdings by dairy cow size groups
| |||||
Head
| <50
| 50–69
| 70–99
| 100 and over
| Total
|
| Holdings (thousand) | 15·8 | 6·4 | 6·3 | 6·7 | 35·1 |
| Dairy cows (thousand head) | 425·1 | 373·1 | 518·6 | 1,007·6 | 2,324·4 |
Table 4. Holdings by total cereals (excluding maize) size groups
| ||||||
Hectares
| <40
| 40–<50
| 50–<10
| 100–<150
| 150 and over
| Total
|
| Holdings (thousand) | 38·2 | 3·9 | 10·4 | 4·3 | 4·5 | 61·3 |
| Total cereals (thousand ha.) | 571·1 | 172·6 | 739·8 | 527·8 | 1,116·5 | 3,127·8 |
Note: A wide range of price quotations exists for individual commodities depending on quality, presentation, stage of marketing etc. Those shown are intended generally to be illustrative of prices paid by wholesalers or received by producers. Some prices are highly seasonal.
1 Week ending 24 October: prices are before deducting co-responsibility levy.
2 Prices unquoted since 14 September. Average price listed latest average levy as at 24 October.
3 Weeek ending 31 October.
4 Average price for month of October.
5 Prices range from £1,611–£3,683/tonne, with `Lampante' Spanish Origin at £2,141/tonne.