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19 Jun 2007 : Column 1661W—continued

19 Jun 2007 : Column 1662W

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is his policy to support proposals to reduce total allowable catch and fishing opportunities for fish stocks outside safe biological limits at a rate in excess of 15 per cent. per year; and if he will make a statement. [143564]

Mr. Bradshaw: In most cases, the UK seeks to follow the scientific advice from ICES on the appropriate catch level for a particular stock. However, there are some cases where, while accepting the ICES stock assessment, the UK does not agree with the management advice suggested by ICES. For example, additional information may be available from other sources, which suggests a different approach.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the proposals in the Commission Communication, Fishing Opportunities for 2008: Policy Statement from the European Commission (COM(2007) 295 final). [143598]

Mr. Bradshaw: The European Commission have asked for responses from member states by 31 July. Fisheries Departments are currently considering the text whilst consulting relevant stakeholders and the UK intends to provide a full response within the deadline.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whom he will consult before submitting his response to the European Commission on its Communication, Fishing Opportunities for 2008: Policy Statement from the European Commission (COM(2007) 295 final). [143599]

Mr. Bradshaw: My Department is currently consulting a range of fishing industry representatives (including those in the catching, processing and marketing sectors), scientists and environmental and consumer interests. Equivalent consultations are also being carried out in other parts of the UK by the Fisheries Departments in the Devolved Administrations.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the appropriate level for total allowable catch in 2008 in the North Sea for (a) herring, (b) cod, (c) haddock, (d) whiting, (e) plaice and (f) sole; and if he will make a statement. [143600]

Mr. Bradshaw: ICES advice on the North Sea stocks mentioned was published on 8 June. The Government are considering that advice carefully and has not yet made an assessment of it.

Food: Prices

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the farmgate price of (a) apples, (b) beef, (c) cabbages, (d) carrots, (e) chicken, (f) eggs, (g) lamb, (h) onions, (i) pork, (j) potatoes, (k) tomatoes, (l) wheat and (m) milk was in each year since 1995. [142514]

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Barry Gardiner: The farmgate prices from 1995 up to 2006 for the listed commodities are shown in the following table. The prices for 2006 are provisional.

19 Jun 2007 : Column 1664W

Commodity	Unit	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006(1)
Pork	p per kg	119	138	111	81	79	95	98	93	103	103	102	104
Beef	p per kg	123	106	97	86	92	90	88	91	95	101	102	111
Lamb	p per kg	236	283	239	192	180	196	n/a	233	271	263	250	262
Chicken	p per kg	84	91	86	77	72	71	71	69	72	74	73	77
Milk(2)	p per litre	24.9	25.0	22.1	19.4	18.3	16.9	19.3	17.1	18.0	18.5	18.5	18.0
Eggs	p per dozen	38	46	39	36	34	39	41	42	46	49	45	48
Apples —dessert	£ per tonne	419	528	526	480	437	358	352	385	460	349	402	608
Apples —culinary	£ per tonne	243	279	322	341	249	215	176	286	472	259	351	356
Carrots	£ per tonne	190	158	107	142	139	104	131	115	120	111	132	140
Tomatoes	£ per tonne	585	742	547	595	576	752	725	794	1042	751	871	993
Onions —dry	£ per tonne	256	136	145	194	109	88	119	113	115	129	88	137
Onions	£ per tonne	1,318	1,153	1,261	1,204	1,130	1,126	1,360	1,293	1,270	1,252	1,242	1,314
Potatoes	£ per tonne	188	100	66	122	119	83	111	81	103	117	99	124
Cabbages —spring	£ per tonne	310	329	302	316	311	290	454	290	337	315	324	289
Cabbages —summer	£ per tonne	239	173	189	231	225	289	257	225	253	254	258	274
Cabbages —winter	£ per tonne	179	220	158	182	179	151	169	199	225	217	184	179
Milling wheat	£ per tonne	120	122	101	84	81	74	82	71	83	86	73	83
Feed wheat	£ per tonne	110	111	89	75	73	66	75	63	75	76	66	78
n/a = not available (1) Provisional (2) Including bonus Source: Agriculture in the United Kingdom, DEFRA publication; MLC for pork, beef and lamb.

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