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Mr. Cynog Dafis (Ceredigion): The Minister mentioned energy crops and I have made the point before that there is an anomaly in the situation in which arable area payments can be converted into support payments for energy crops, but livestock payments cannot. That is
discriminatory between sectors, and also between regions and parts of the UK. Is not that wrong; will he undertake to put it right; and how long will it take?
Mr. Brown: I cannot give an undertaking to reshape the schemes to meet the anomaly that the hon. Gentleman points out, but I am an enthusiastic supporter of energy crop production in this country. It has great potential and I shall do what I properly can to help. The rural development announcements are only weeks away and they will offer a potential way forward.
Agenda 2000 provides member states with discretion on how to implement aspects of the CAP reform agreement. That was the subject of my recent consultation. I invited views from everyone with an interest in the countryside on using the options available under Agenda 2000 to achieve a competitive, flexible and diverse industry. I am in discussions with the Treasury about the long-term future of support for agriculture in the UK in the light of the sustained problems that our farmers have been facing.
The problems that UK farmers face are problems for the whole food chain. As Minister with responsibility for both agriculture and food, I have from the outset been keen to bring together all parts of the food chain to address common problems. The different parts of the industry have much to learn from each other. The food chain group, which I set up, will report soon and I hope that its report will engender not only discussion but action--in a spirit of partnership--to address some of the issues facing the whole food chain. I am grateful for the help that has been given to that important initiative by retailers.
Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich):
Will my right hon. Friend the Minister please emphasise the extraordinary area of dispute caused by the appalling prices paid to the producer--who must be important in all this--by supermarkets which seem to make large profits in the middle? While those talks are taking place, would it not be a good time to point out to the distribution system that it might be nice if the housewife and the producer benefited from a more sensible system?
Mr. Brown:
I am very keen on getting all parts of the industry--the retailers, the distributors, the processors and the producers--to realise that they have interests in common. I am also opposed to the improper exercise of market power to enable the strong to prevail against the less strong. The Competition Commission is now considering the issues, which include the profit margins of the retailers, their relationship with consumers, and the working of the entire supply chain. We will have to await its report, which will of course be made to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
I welcome the initiatives that have taken place, although more has to be done. The Government recognise that special short-term measures are needed--exceptionally--because of the current pressures. That is why I announced on 20 September extra support to hill livestock producers in recognition of the particular difficulties that they face. Some £60 million extra will be made available in 1999 and a further £60 million in hill livestock compensatory allowance payments in 2000.
The payments under Agenda 2000, from 2001, will be made on a different basis, and I expect to issue a consultation paper on that next week.
Mr. Tim Collins (Westmorland and Lonsdale):
I hope that the Minister will be able to answer a specific point put to me in the past half hour by a representative of the Cumbrian NFU. It is rumoured that the consultation that the Minister has just mentioned will close on 19 November, but the paper will go out next week. Is that true, and if so, will it be possible to extend the consultation period, so that hill farmers in grave difficulty have more time to think about the serious implications of the change?
Mr. Brown:
That is a fair point, but I want to reflect on it over the next 24 hours as I do not want unduly to delay making the payments. The longer the time allowed for consultation, the later the new scheme will be introduced. Both those factors must be borne in mind. There has been some discussion with farmers' representatives already, but the hon. Gentleman raises a fair point and I promise to give the House an answer within 24 hours.
In the same package, I announced the deferral of charges for inspections of specified risk material from cattle and sheep carcases until the year 2002-03, at least. That in part answers a point raised earlier by the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning). In the present depressed state of the market, and given that those costs do not fall on our competitors, it is right for the Government to continue to meet the charges from public funds. Similarly, and for the same reason, I announced that the charging of farmers for cattle passports would be deferred at least until 2002-03.
The Government also have an important part to play in setting the right regulatory framework--for both the farming industry and the wider public--and in recognising the burdens that legislation imposes. I shall do all I can to relieve farmers of unnecessary bureaucracy. We have already implemented, as far as we can, the efficiency study on reducing paperwork burdens on farmers. We already seek to help farmers by pre-printing forms, for example, and we are trialling the use of electronic communication.
However, we must do more. That is why we have set in hand a review of the regulatory burdens. Also, to ensure that we tackle the matters that the industry considers to be unnecessary or oppressive, I have asked the industry to tell me of its top concerns. I have asked teams of informed individuals to look radically at the priorities chosen bythe industry. Those priorities cover slaughterhouse regulation--another point rightly raised by the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton--meat hygiene rules, integrated administration and control system and inspections and the workings of the intervention system.
I have asked the different working groups to advise me of ways in which we could do things better. That is not the end of the story: other matters remain to be examined.
Mr. Alan Duncan (Rutland and Melton)
rose--
Mr. Lembit Öpik (Montgomeryshire)
rose--
Mr. Brown:
I shall give way in turn to the four hon. Gentlemen who have indicated that they want to intervene but then, although I do not want to be discourteous to the House, I must make progress.
Mr. Paterson:
What has the Minister done since last weekend's revelation that the Meat Hygiene Service, from the £40 that it charges an abattoir, gives £8 to a vet, takes £8 for administration fees, and gives £24 to private contracting companies such as Eville and Jones of Leeds?
Mr. Brown:
That is precisely the type of issue that the review body is examining. However, for completeness I should tell the House that, in addition to the review body that I have appointed, the Meat Hygiene Service has also implemented an efficiency exercise. The outcome of that exercise will be reported to the main review body.
Mr. Clifton-Brown:
Will the Minister ask the review body to examine a specific problem that has irritated a number of my constituents? That is that simple administrative errors--on IACS forms, for example--can result in huge and disproportionate penalties.
Mr. Brown:
At present, I seem to be the review body, as hon. Members set out hard cases. As far as I can, I look very closely at such cases, as some of them seem hard to me as well. Although the European rules that constrain us are very tight, the hon. Gentleman makes a good point; I have seen some cases that I think are very hard, and there clearly would be justification in having another system to check that we were not being harder than the rules required. However, the scope for ministerial discretion is very limited.
Mr. Duncan:
Farmers in my constituency try to export sheep carcases to France. That is a lucrative market when it works, but the Government requirement that the spinal column be removed does not suit the sale of such carcases. If that simple and unnecessary stipulation were relaxed or rescinded, the French market would be opened up again. That would benefit my farmers, who want only to trade sensibly. Will the Minister undertake to change the rule, as there now seems to be no need for the requirement on safety grounds, and its removal would make all the difference?
Mr. Brown:
I can give the hon. Gentleman an assurance that I am looking very hard at that matter. However, the constraint is a recommendation from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee and the Government cannot lightly put it to one side. I am examining the matter closely, but I cannot give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that he seeks today.
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