---

Agriculture Council

Mr. Hood: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Agriculture Council held in Brussels on 14 and 15 December; and if he will make a statement. [64491]

Mr. Nick Brown: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend for Scarborough and Whitby (Mr. Quinn) on 17 December 1998, Official Report, columns 661-62.

Fisheries Council

Mr. Hood: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Fisheries Council held in Brussels on 17 and 18 December; and if he will make a statement. [65071]

Mr. Morley: I represented the United Kingdom at a meeting of the EU Fisheries Council in Brussels on 17 and 18 December. My noble Friends Lord Sewel, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scottish Office, and Lord Dubs, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office, were also present.

The Council agreed unanimously, with Italy abstaining, the total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas to apply in 1999 in Community waters. Details of the final TACs are in the following table. In some cases, there are significant reductions compared with 1998; in other cases, the final figures are higher than the Commission's proposals or the 1998 TACs; in all cases, the UK sought a balance between the need to be cautious in the management of stocks for their long-term benefit and the need to take account of the practical realities for fishermen and short-term socio-economic pressures on them. At the end of the negotiations, the total UK quotas agreed were some 57,000 tonnes higher in cod equivalent terms than the quotas being discussed at the start of the negotiations. This increase is worth some £30 million to the industry, although overall there has been a net year-on-year reduction in fishing opportunities in order to conserve stocks for the future.

I invoked The Hague Preference on all the stocks where it was necessary to do so.

A particularly welcome part of the package was the securing of additional quota to catch haddock in the Irish Sea, reflecting the upsurge of fish in this area. As a result of close co-operation with the Irish Republic, we secured an additional 2,400 tonnes of quota for UK Irish Sea fishermen which will be especially beneficial in Northern Ireland.

We were also very pleased to secure as part of the package the separation of the small Shetland coastal sandeel fishery from the North Sea sandeel TAC and helpful Commission statements on two UK initiatives: a Commission commitment to propose the introduction of a new TAC for dogfish and a commitment to respond to concern about the effects of sandeel fishing on birds and other wildlife.

11 Jan 1999 : Column: 124

Separately from the main TACs package, the Council agreed by qualified majority, with Italy and Greece opposed, 1999 TACs for bluefin tuna and swordfish. These retain small unallocated quotas to cover incidental by-catches by the UK and other northern countries.

The Council agreed unanimously to eighteen regulations covering 1999 international fisheries arrangements: between the Community and Norway, Faroes, Greenland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Russia; and under the North West Atlantic Fisheries Organisation and the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission. These all reflected negotiations completed in the previous weeks and, in cases where the UK has a direct interest, safeguarded that interest.

Following the substantial progress made at its last meeting, the Council unanimously adopted a regulation amending fisheries control and enforcement rules. These will strengthen control arrangements throughout the fisheries sector in line with UK objectives, including more effective monitoring of Third Country vessels, improved transparency of enforcement activity, increased co-operation among Member States and reinforcement of the UK's national rules on designated ports.

The Council agreed by qualified majority, with Belgium, France and Spain voting against, some limited amendments to 1998 autonomous tariff quotas and tariff suspensions for 1999. These measures help to maintain the competitiveness of the processing industry by giving them access, at reduced rates of duty, to raw material that Community fishermen cannot supply.

Stock	1998 TAC (tonnes)	1999 TAC (tonnes)	Gain/loss %
Sandeels IIa, IV	1,000,000	1,000,000	0
Herring I,II	1,300,000	1,300,000	0
Herring IVa, b	229,000	240,000	5
Herring IVc, VIId	25,000	25,000	0
Herring Vb, VIaN,VIb	80,370	68,000	-15
Herring VIa (Clyde)	1,000	1,000	0
Herring VIIa	9,000	6,600	-27
Herring VIIe, f	1,000	1,000	0
Herring VIIg-k	22,200	21,000	-5
Herring IIa, IV Ind. by-catch	22,000	30,000	36
Cod IIa, IV	140,000	132,400	-5
Cod Vb, VI, XII, XIV	11,000	11,800	7
Cod VIIa	7,100	5,500	-23
Cod VIIb-k, VIII, IX, X	20,000	19,000	-5
Megrim IIa, IV	3,000	3,000	0
Megrim Vb, VI, XII, XIV	4,840	4,840	0
Megrim VII	22,400	22,400	0
Dab & Flounder IIa, IV	30,070	30,070	0
Anglers IIa, IV	22,070	22,070	0
Anglers Vb, VI, XII, XIV	8,600	8,600	0
Anglers VII	26,670	26,670	0
Haddock IIa, IV	115,000	88,550	-23
Haddock Vb, VI, XII, XIV	25,700	19,000	-26
Haddock VII, VIII, IX, X	20,000	22,000	10
Haddock VIIa	0	5,000	-
Whiting IIa, IV	60,000	44,000	-27
Whiting Vb, VI, XII, XIV	9,000	6,300	-30
Whiting VIIa	5,000	4,400	-12
Whiting VIIb-k	27,000	25,000	-7
Hake IIa, IV	2,070	1,930	-7
Hake Vb, VI, VII, XII, XIV	33,160	30,910	-7
Lemon sole & witch IIa, IV	12,000	12,000	0
Blue whiting IIa NS	90,000	90,000	0
Nephrops IIa, IV	15,200	15,200	0
Nephrops Vb, VI	12,600	12,600	0
Nephrops VII	23,000	23,000	0
Plaice IIa, IV	87,000	102,000	17
Plaice Vb, VI, XII, XIV	2,400	2,400	0
Plaice VIIa	2,400	2,400	0
Plaice VIId, e	5,700	7,400	30
Plaice VIIf, g	1,100	900	-18
Plaice VIIh,j,k	1,350	1,350	0
Pollack Vb, VI, XII, XIV	1,100	1,100	0
Pollack VII	17,000	17,000	0
Saithe IIa, IIIb,c,d, IV	97,000	110,000	13
Saithe Vb, VI, XII, XIV	10,900	7,500	-31
Saithe VII, VIII, IX, X	8,800	8,800	0
Turbot & brill IIa, IV	9,000	9,000	0
Skates & rays IIa, IV	6,060	6,060	0
Mackerel IIa(EC), III, IV	62,455	62,455	0
Mackerel IIa (non EC), Vb, VI, VII, VIIIabde, XII, XIV	422,160	422,160	0
Sole II, IV	19,100	22,000	15
Sole Vb, VI, XII XIV	155	155	0
Sole VIIa	900	900	0
Sole VIId	5,230	4,700	-10
Sole VIIe	670	700	4
Sole VIIf,g	850	960	13
Sole VIIh,j,k	720	720	0
Sprat IIa, IV	150,000	175,000	17
Sprat VIId,e	12,000	12,000	0
Horse mackerel IIa, IV	60,000	60,000	0
Horse mackerel Vb, VI, VII, VIIa,b,d,e, XII, XIV	320,000	265,000	-17

11 Jan 1999 : Column: 125

Meat and Livestock Commission

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of the Meat and Livestock Commission budget was spent on promoting British pork and bacon in each of the last three years. [65120]

Mr. Nick Brown: As a percentage of total expenditure, the proportion spent by the Meat and Livestock Commission on promoting British pork and bacon in each of the last three financial years is as set out. These amounts are equivalent to the pork and bacon promotion levy collected from pig producers.

Year	Percentage
1995-96	18
1996-97	16
1997-98 (prov.)	18

11 Jan 1999 : Column: 126

Mr. Ken James

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Parliamentary Secretary last met Mr. Ken James; and if he will make a statement. [64669]

Mr. Morley: I have not met Mr. James since the election.

New Forest Fox Hounds

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to send a substantive reply to the question from the hon. Member for New Forest, West of 30 November 1998 regarding New Forest fox hounds. [64740]

Mr. Morley: The Chief Executive wrote to the hon. Member on 16 December 1998.

Forest Enterprise

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a minute of the meeting between the Parliamentary Secretary, the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley), and the Chief Executive of Forest Enterprise on 24 November 1998. [64979]

Mr. Morley: I often meet officials of the Forestry Commission, including the Chief Executive of Forest Enterprise, to discuss forestry matters. When I met the Chief Executive on 24 November he informed me, amongst other things, that Forest Enterprise had issued a formal warning to the New Forest Fox Hounds. It is not customary to publish the minutes of meetings between Ministers and their departmental officials.

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the relationship between Forest Enterprise and the Parliamentary Secretary, the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley). [65008]

Mr. Morley: My right hon. Friend the Minister has responsibility for forestry in England, but I act on his behalf on most forestry matters. Forest Enterprise is an agency of the Forestry Commission, which is the Government's Department for forestry.

---