| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Supermarket Prices
Mr. Dobbin: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has for further discussions with supermarket chains on pricing policy; and what progress he has made. [96683]
Ms Quin:
Pricing decisions in respect of produce at retail level are matters for the commercial judgment of the retailers involved. The Competition Commission are
8 Nov 1999 : Column: 462
currently investigating competition in the grocery retailing sector which will include relationships with suppliers including farmers. However, some of the actions arising from the work of the Food Chain Group should help to increase understanding throughout the food chain of the competitive pressures faced by individual sectors and how decisions and actions by one part of the chain may impact upon another.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Government expect to lift the over-30-month rule. [96749]
Ms Quin:
The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee has identified criteria against which the controls on beef over-30-months of age can be reviewed in the future, and began to address these at its meeting on 18 March 1999. The Committee recognised that the issue would require careful study and would almost certainly need to be considered over several meetings.
At its meeting on 20 September the Committee noted that it was expected that updated epidemiological analyses of the BSE epidemic would be available for its meeting on 29 November. The Committee agreed to postpone further consideration of the over-30-month rule until that meeting so that it could take these analyses into account.
In the light of the Committee's conclusions, and after consultation with all interested parties, the Government will consider what changes to the over-30-month rule, if any, could be made, consistent with the continued protection of public health. Any changes to the rule will need to be agreed with the European Commission and member states as it forms part of the Florence Agreement on the lifting of the beef export ban.
Mr. Llwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if Lottery moneys which are used as a constituent part of projects attracting Objective 1 European funding will be termed public or private expenditure; and if he will make a statement. [97534]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
The National Assembly would not have to provide public expenditure cover for Lottery match funding. Lottery moneys are not Exchequer funding. Lottery funding counts as public expenditure within the Total Managed Expenditure of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.