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Livestock Farmers

15. Mr. Gray: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assistance the Government have given to Britain's livestock farmers in the last year. [127045]

Ms Quin: Since August 1999, the Government have announced two significant packages of assistance for the livestock sector delivering in total £419 million. Livestock farmers receive some £750 million in payment under the CAP, to which this £419 million is an addition.

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Farm Incomes

16. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on trends in farm incomes. [127046]

Ms Quin: In real terms Total Income From Farming doubled between 1990 and 1995 before falling back by over 60 per cent. between 1995 and 1999 to an average of £10,330 per full time farmer.

Looking further ahead, future trends in farm incomes will be shaped by:

future market developments;

the trend in the exchange rate;

the impact CAP reform has in shifting Agriculture toward a freer market;

the pace and extent of industry re-structuring.

Common Fisheries Policy

17. Mr. Quinn: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what his priorities are for the 2002 review of the common fisheries policy. [127047]

Mr. Morley: The Government wish to maintain key features of the present arrangements such as national quotas based on relative stability and access restrictions within 6/12 mile limits. At the same time, we want to secure improvements to make CFP a more effective instrument for conserving fish stocks, including enhancing the regional dimension and integrating environmental considerations more fully.

Agricultural Wages Boards

18. Mr. Watts: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evaluation he has made of the effect of the Agricultural Wages Board arrangements on low-paid employees in rural areas. [127048]

Ms Quin: As part of the quinquennial review of the Agricultural Wages Board, announced in December 1999, independent research has been undertaken to evaluate the impact of the provisions in the Agricultural Wages Order.

21. Mr. Pond: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evaluation he has made of the effect of the Agricultural Wages Board arrangements on low-paid employees in rural areas. [127051]

Ms Quin: While we have made no special assessment of the effect of the Agricultural Wages Board on rural rates of pay in general, we are aware that over the years some rural employers have based the pay for non- agricultural workers on the rates set by the Agricultural Wages Board.

Horticulture

19. Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what meetings he has held with horiculturalists' representatives to discuss horticulture in the last month. [127049]

Ms Quin: During the past month I have met representatives of the potato and ornamental horticulture sectors and visited a wide cross section of growers in the Vale of Evesham. I have also invited leading horticulture members of the National Farmers Union to a meeting to discuss the climate change levy.

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Genetic Modification

20. Dr. Gibson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will operate the precautionary principle in relation to new products involving genetic modification. [127050]

Mr. Nick Brown: The current legislation prohibits the placing on the market of a new product involving genetic modification until it has been approved through the European Union. Consents are only granted once Member States are satisfied that all appropriate measures have been taken to avoid adverse effects on human health and the environment.

Abattoirs

22. Mr. Sawford: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to maintain the continued viability of small and medium-sized abattoirs; and if he will make a statement. [127053]

Ms Quin: I am well aware of the position of small and medium sized abattoirs. Meat inspection charges are a matter for the Food Standards Agency.

Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture

24. Mr. Dobbin: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to promote environmentally sustainable forms of agricultural production. [127055]

25. Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to promote environmentally sustainable forms of agricultural production. [127056]

Mr. Morley: The Government have a range of policies to promote environmentally sustainable forms of agricultural production. These include advice and encouragement, incentives to help farmers in their dual role of food producers and stewards of the countryside, regulation to protect against threats to environmental resources and research and development.

Organic Farming

27. Ms Drown: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what his Department's expenditure is on research and development into organic farming methods. [127058]

Mr. Morley: The budget for MAFF's dedicated programme of research into organic farming methods is £2.1 million in this financial year.

Under-10-metre Fleet

Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes are proposed in the licensing and quota management arrangements for the under 10 metre fleet; and if he will make a statement. [128756]

Mr. Morley: The under-10-metre fleet is an important part of the UK fishing industry and I am concerned to promote and ensure a stable future for our inshore fishermen.

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Last year the Ministry and the other Fisheries Departments invited comments on measures to improve the management of the under-10-metre fleet. More than 250 replies have been received from fishermen's organisations and individual fishermen. The majority of those commenting were opposed to further constraints being placed on this part of the industry such as a prohibition on weekend fishing, regional licensing or species specific licences.

Although we have been successful in limiting the closure of fisheries, we do need to safeguard against the consequences of further increases in fishing effort. In recent years there has been a sharp increase in the construction of vessels between 9 and 10 metres. This trend prompted the Fisheries Departments to introduce monthly catch limits for North Sea nephrops last Autumn and to extend these arrangements to Area VII and West of Scotland nephrops for the year 2000.

In our view it would be prudent to adopt further measures to constrain future growth in fishing effort within the under-10-metre fleet. Consequently, from 1 January 2001 it will not be possible to aggregate licences from vessels under eight metres onto vessels between eight and 10 metres and a limit of 70 vessel capacity units (VCUs) will apply to the aggregation of licences onto vessels below eight metres. Additionally, the Licensing Review Working Group, comprising representatives from industry and Fisheries Departments, has been asked to consider whether any changes should be made in the capacity penalties applying to the transfer or aggregation of licences within the under 10 metre fleet.

The Fisheries Departments will continue to manage quota allocations for the under-10-metre fleet with the objective of providing fishing opportunities throughout the year. Steps have already been taken to underpin the main stocks of interest to under-10-metre vessels and special arrangements have been made for low impact fisheries such as handlining for mackerel. In future any surplus that arises on underpinned allocations will be utilised to acquire additional quota for this part of the fleet. Greater use will also be made of EU provisions on end year flexibility enabling quota to be borrowed from the following year and for certain stocks for any surplus to be banked. Consideration will also be given to whether suitable arrangements might be possible that would enable Producer Organisations to manage quota in respect of under-10-metre vessels within their membership.

CAP

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to reduce the cost of the Common Agricultural Policy to (a) taxpayers and (b) consumers. [127044]

Ms Quin: One of my Department's objectives, set out in its business plan, is to reduce the cost of the CAP to consumers and taxpayers. Agenda 2000 began this process, and the Government continue to press for further reform.

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Fishing Fleet

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the current fisheries agreements with non-EU countries indicating the cost of each to the Community's budget; how many vessels are involved in each case; and how many are (a) UK flagged and (b) UK owned. [127186]

Mr. Morley: The table lists current fisheries agreements between the EU and third countries and their estimated annual cost to the Community budget.

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The manner in which the fishing opportunities obtained in third country waters is expressed varies from agreement to agreement. Total vessel capacity, number of licences, reference tonnages and numerical quotas are used singly or in combination to describe the fishing opportunities available to community vessels. It is not, therefore, possible to determine the number of vessels involved in every case. However, the table indicates which member states benefit from the opportunities made available under each agreement.

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Country	Estimated annual cost £ eu(10)	Beneficiaries
Cape Verde	317,836	France, Spain, Portugal
Comores	224,100	Spain, France, Portugal, Italy
Equatorial Guinea	1,999,200	Spain, France, Portugal, Italy
Estonia	(11)134,893	Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden
Faroe Islands	Reciprocal	Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, UK
Gabon	450,188	Spain, France, Portugal
Greenland(12)	24,090,750	UK, Germany, France, Denmark
Guinea Bissau	5,602,500	Spain, Italy, Portugal
Guinea Conakry	1,842,600	Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Portugal
Iceland	Reciprocal	Germany, UK, Belgium, France
Ivory Coast	622,500	Spain, France, Portugal
Latvia	(11)156,870	Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden
Lithuania	(11)340,010	Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden
Madagascar	473,100	Spain, France
Mauritania	32,469,600	Spain, Portugal, Italy, France
Mauritius	256,781	Spain, Portugal, Italy, France
Norway	Reciprocal	UK, Portugal, France, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium
Poland	Reciprocal	Sweden
Russian Federation	Reciprocal	Sweden
Sao Tome e Principe	396,844	France, Spain, Portugal
Senegal	7,470,000	France, Spain, Portugal, Italy
Seychelles	2,147,625	Spain, UK, France, Portugal, Italy

(10) Using exchange rate of one euro = £0.6225

(11) Plus reciprocal exchange

(12) Community quotas of polar cod and capelin in Greenland waters are open to all member states

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Mr. Bercow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on planned changes in the size of the UK fishing fleet; what corresponding changes are planned for other EU fleets, indicating (a) how many vessels will be affected and (b) what proportion of that country's fleet this represents; and what measures he is taking to use these changes to reduce the number of flagged vessels. [127187]

Mr. Morley: In document 7426/00, the European Commission recently published its mid-term review of the fourth Multi-annual Guidance Programme (MAGP IV). At the Council of Fisheries Ministers on 16 June, the UK and a number of other member states expressed reservations about the Commission's recommendations for future policy on fleet restructuring. The Commission will be consulting extensively on the report's findings before making formal proposals for new legislation and the Government will be playing an active part in those discussions.

Member states continue to be bound by the obligations for fleet reductions set out in MAGP IV and in the coming weeks the Commission will be publishing its report on Member states' progress (at 31 December 1999) in meeting those objectives. In implementing MAGP IV we are obliged to consider all vessels on the UK register.

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