Select Committee on European Legislation Third Report


GUIDE PRICES FOR FISHERY PRODUCTS 1997

13.   We consider that the following raises questions of political importance. We make no recommendation for its further consideration, but suggest that it would be relevant to the annual fisheries debate on the Floor of the House:--

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

(17593) 11164/96 COM(96)527

3    Draft Regulations:-- (i)  a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) fixing the guide prices for the fishery products listed in Annex I (A), (D) and (E) of Regulation (EEC) No. 3759/92 for the 1997 fishing year; (ii)  a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) fixing the guide prices for the fishery products listed in Annex II to Regulation (EEC) No. 3759/92 for the 1997 fishing year; and (iii)  a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) fixing the Community producer price for tuna intended for the industrial manufacture of products falling within CN code 1604 for the 1997 fishing year.

Legal base:

Articles 42 and 43; qualified majority voting.

Background
13.1  Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3759/92[30] provides for the annual fixing of guide prices for the 27 species of fresh or chilled fish which are listed in its annexes. It also provides for the fixing of an annual Community producer price for tuna intended for canning. The guide prices and the Community producer price for tuna are based on average prices in the Community in the preceding 3 years, together with an assessment of production and demand prospects to avoid the formation of surpluses. Other factors taken into consideration are the need to support producers incomes, to stabilise market prices, to consider consumer interests and, in the case of the Community producer price for tuna, to take into consideration the needs of the Community's canning industry.
13.2  Annual guide prices are the basis for determining withdrawal, minimum selling and reference prices. These derived prices are set by Commission procedure some way below the guide price to act as a market floor for fishermen who are members of recognised Fish Producers Organisations which have chosen to adopt common withdrawal prices. This enables the producer organisation to receive compensation from Community funds if no buyer can be found for a particular catch at a price above the Community withdrawal price. Reference prices serve as a yardstick against which the Commission decide whether action is taken against imports to offset severe market disturbances.
13.3  We considered the guide price proposals for fisheries products for the 1996 fishing year on 22 November 1995[31] and suggested that they would be relevant to the annual fisheries debate on the Floor of the House. At that time there was concern about the absence of a proposal for a dual guide price for herring to reflect the difference between the price paid by Klondykers (factory ships, mainly from Russia and the Baltic States) and the price paid to processors (mainly in Germany and Denmark). The Commission introduced regional prices and these will continue in 1997. We have been told that Scottish catching interests will therefore not be adversely affected.

  The Commission's proposal

13.4  The first proposal describes guide prices for the 1997 fishing year. The Commission proposes the following changes over the 1996 prices:
decreases of:
-5% for cod and Norway lobster tails;
-2% for hake;
-1% for dogfish, saithe, haddock, whiting, ling, anchovies, megrim, monkfish (whole), Norway lobster (whole) and cuttlefish;
no change for herring, redfish, monkfish (tails), edible crab and deep water prawns (boiled, fresh or chilled);
increases of:
+5% for shrimps;
+3% for mackerel;
+2% for spotted dogfish, plaice, dab and sole;
+1% for sardines, ray's bream, flounder and Albacore tuna.
13.5  The UK has a particular interest in cod, haddock, saithe, hake, plaice, whiting, herring, mackerel (Scomber scombus), Atlantic sardines (pilchards), dogfish (Squalus acanthias), megrim, angler-fish, dab and sole.
13.6  The second proposal would set guide prices for frozen fisheries products. The Commission proposes the following changes over the 1996 prices:
decreases of:
-9% for squid (of the species loligo patagonica);
-2% for hake (whole and fillets);
-1% for squid (of the species illex argentinus);
no change for squid (of the species ommastrephes) and prawns (other species of the family penaeidae);
increases of:
+4% for octopus;
+3% for sea bream;
+2% for prawns (Parapenaeus longirostris);
+1% for cuttlefish and Greenland halibut.
13.7  The third proposal would set the Community producer price for the 1997 fishing year for tuna. Compensation is granted to producers when average prices on the tuna market fall below a fixed percentage (91%) of this producer price. It is proposed to set the Community producer price for tuna at 1,168 ECU per tonne, a 5% reduction on the price set in 1996.

  The Government's view

13.8  We have received an Explanatory Memorandum dated 11 November from the Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr Baldry). This was submitted on the basis that the official text had not been received, but we have now seen that text. As in previous years there is general support from the processing sector, while catching interests view the proposed cuts particularly the cut of 5% for cod, as excessive. The Government considers that the proposals reflect the trend in prices throughout the Community over the past few years, although it considers the cut in the price of cod too severe because it does not reflect the higher price in the United Kingdom, where it is a more important species than in other parts of the Community.
13.9  The financial implications are similar to those for 1996. The Commission has indicated the proposal would be funded within the existing budget of 32 million ECU (£25.03 million).

  Conclusion

13.10  We consider that the proposal raises questions of political importance. We do not recommend further consideration in isolation, but consider it relevant to the regular fisheries debate on the Floor of the House.

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30.  OJ No. L 388 31.13.92, p.1. See (13636) 5351/92; see HC 79-i (1992-93), paragraph 52 (17 June 1992).

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31.  (16534) 10862/95; see HC51-i (1995-96), paragraph 27 (22 November 1995).

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Prepared 2nd December 1996