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8 Feb 2001 : Column: 623W

Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 8 February 2001

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Factortame Ruling

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made in meeting the claims arising from the ruling over the Factortame case brought by owners of flag of convenience vessels. [150068]

Mr. Morley: Settlement has now been reached with all the applicants involved in the Factortame litigation. Under the terms of the settlement the total sum of damages paid is £55 million, including interest of some £26 million. This includes the earlier settlement of £10 million reached in 2000 but excludes the legal costs of the applicants, liability for which was accepted as part of the settlement agreements, but which have yet to be assessed. The claims submitted by the applicants totalled £285 million before interest.

Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries

Review Group

Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Government will publish its formal response to the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review Group report. [149833]

Mr. Morley: I am pleased to announce that copies of the formal Government response have today been placed in the House of Commons Library. A copy of the Government response is being sent to all those who responded to the report.

Official Publications

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list (1) his Department's spending on official publications for (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98, (c) 1998-99, (d) 1999-2000 and (e) 2000-01 and the planned expenditure for 2001-02; [141447]

(2) if he will list each new publication issued by his Department since 1997 and the total cost to the Department of each publication. [141464]

Ms Quin [holding answer 11 December 2000]: A list of publications and printing costs, produced by my Department for the financial years since 1996-97, is available in the Libraries of the House.

Correspondence

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire of 24 May on behalf of his constituent, Mrs. Brown. [143934]

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Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 8 January 2001]: A reply was originally sent to the right hon. Member on 16 June 2000, but, I understand, was not received. A re-drafted response was sent on 7 February 2001.

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his holding answer (UIN 135790), when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire of 13 July 2000 on behalf of his constituent Mr. Russell. [149210]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 6 February 2001]: A reply was originally sent to the right hon. Member on 22 August 2000, but, I understand, was not received. A re-drafted response was sent on 7 February 2001.

Sugar

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what area of land is used to grow sugar beet in each EU member state, together with the percentage of that area that would be eligible for IACS payments if alternative crops were grown. [146411]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 22 January 2001]: Sugar beet is grown on about 1.5 per cent. of the EU agricultural area, and the breakdown by member state is as follows. So long as this land met the requirements of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1251/1999 (effectively meaning that it had been used for sugar beet or other arable production at some time during the five years to 31 December 1991), it would generally all be eligible for payments under the Arable Area Payments Scheme if eligible crops such as cereals and oilseeds were grown on it.

Thousand ha

Member state	Beet area 2000-01
Austria	43
Belgium/Luxembourg	95
Denmark	58
Finland	33
France	361
Germany	452
Greece	50
Ireland	33
Italy	240
Netherlands	112
Portugal	8
Spain	130
Sweden	56
UK	150
Total EU 15	1,821

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how much sugar by weight and value was exported from each Association of Caribbean Producers nation covered by the Sugar Protocol to (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the European Union; [146413]

(2) if he will state the latest intervention price for (a) beet sugar under the EU sugar regime, (b) cane sugar imported from the Association of Caribbean Producers countries under the EU sugar regime, (c) world prices for beet sugar and (d) world prices for cane sugar. [146412]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 22 January 2001]: The relevant information is set out in the tables.

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Table 1: Exports to UK and EU (October 1999 to September 2000)

	UK imports (thousand tonnes white sugar equivalent)	Value (£ million)	Other EU Imports (thousand tonnes white sugar equivalent)	Value (£ million)
Barbados	48	16	0	0
Belize	50	15	12	4
Guyana	174	59	36	12
Jamaica	133	44	33	11
St. Kitts	16	5	0	0
Trinidad and Tobago	43	12	9	3
Total	464	151	90	30

Note:

UK imports based on EU and C&E data (provisional). Other EU imports data from European Commission, with value derived using statutory minimum prices.

Table 2: Prices

	euro/tonne	£/tonne
White sugar intervention price (UK)	646.5	414.21
Raw sugar intervention price	523.7	335.53
Sugar Protocol guaranteed price (white)	646.5	414.21
Sugar Protocol guaranteed price (raw)	523.7	335.53
Special Preferential Sugar price (raw)	496.8	318.30
World price(1) (white)	263.7	168.95
World price(1)(raw)	264.2	169.27

⁽¹⁾ World prices based on London spot prices for 18 January 2001

Note:

Exchange rate: euro/£ = 0.6407

Mr. Hugh Leman

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 16 January 2001, Official Report, column 141W, what representations (a) his Department and (b) other statutory bodies have received from Mr. Hugh Leman. [147974]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 30 January 2001]: Pursuant to my answer of 16 January 2001, Official Report, column 141W, I am not aware of any representations from Mr. Hugh Leman.

Pollution

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on the implementation of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations. [148867]

Mr. Morley: MAFF has received representations from the NFU and other trade organisations, as well as ministerial correspondence, on the implementation of the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations in the pig and poultry sectors. These have covered a range of issues specific to the pig and poultry sectors and also the Environment Agency's interim charging scheme. As part of the Action Plan for Farming, the Government dealt with two issues of particular importance to the industry: we deferred implementation of IPPC for existing pig and poultry installations until 2007 and have agreed an Environment Agency charge for permits based on General Binding Rules of £2,950, rather than the £12,000-£18,000 it originally proposed. The Environment Agency, along with officials from MAFF, is continuing to work with the industry to ensure the rules implementing the IPPC

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Regulations are as unbureaucratic and non-burdensome as possible while meeting the environmental requirements of the Regulations.

Countryside Stewardship Scheme

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the relationship between the countryside stewardship scheme and rural development funds from (a) a national and (b) a European source; and if he will make a statement. [148949]

Mr. Morley: Funding for the Countryside Stewardship Scheme is allocated through the seven-year England Rural Development Programme. Some £480 million of the total programme budget of £1.6 billion is assigned to Countryside Stewardship. Of this, £295 million is nationally funded. £185 million derives from European funds, of which 27 per cent. is sourced from the Community's allocation for rural development and 73 per cent. from modulating farmers direct aids.

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