The Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment, Wildlife and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies), and I will represent the United Kingdom at this month’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels. Richard Lochhead, Elin Jones and Conor Murphy will also attend.

There will be the usual approval of the list of ‘A’ points, followed by fisheries items. The Council is due to agree proposals and discuss the following:

Bilateral fisheries agreement with Norway;

Allocation of cod fishing quotas to Poland in the Baltic Sea from 2008 to 2011;

Codification and modernisation of the control system applicable to the common fisheries policy;

Recovery of cod stocks;

Strategy for the sustainable development of European Aquaculture;

Commission report on the progress of the simplification process.

On agriculture, the Council will be seeking political agreements on the CAP health check and school fruit scheme, and discussing a proposal authorising the placing on the market of genetically modified soya bean products.

The following issues will be raised under any other business:

WTO—DDA negotiations

Analysis of the current situation concerning the pesticides package.