Mr James Hoy: It is nothing.
Mr James Hoy: What was the date of that letter?
Mr James Hoy: I can hardly open by saying that I am grateful for the notice given me for this debate. I had better put on record how it happened. It was not until just after half past seven that the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr. Crouch) spoke to me about it. I gave him an assurance that if he wanted to discuss imports he had better get in touch with the Board of Trade. I can only think that, despite the...
Mr James Hoy: I associated their remarks with apples and pears. I picked up the point about soft fruit, plums, blackberries, blackcurrants, and so on. But this debate is about apples and pears, and that is what I am replying to. The hon. Member for Torrington (Mr. Peter Mills) expressed his concern about imports of apples competing with home-produced cider apples. However, he is on difficult ground,...
Mr James Hoy: The 1969 apple crop has been a good deal higher than the small crops of 1967 and 1968. As a result, prices are lower and more apples will be stored for sale after Christmas. There is no glut of supplies from the non-sterling area since these are regulated by quota and are at present fetching prices significantly higher than those for home-grown apples.
Mr James Hoy: The hon. Gentleman has only just told me about the price obtained in my constituency and I would want the facts so that I could look into them. We must get the question of imports in perspective. The current six months' quota for imports, at 15,200 tons, is no greater than in previous years, and the home crop is nearly 18 times greater than that.
Mr James Hoy: I have certainly received no protests from British housewives, who are getting a very good quality British apple much cheaper than they could buy last year.
Mr James Hoy: There are already quota restrictions which apply to all imports of apples from outside the sterling area. The quota for January/June 1970 is now under consideration and my right hon. Friend, the President of the Board of Trade, who is responsible for the licensing of imports, will make an announcement as soon as possible.
Mr James Hoy: Yes, we want to do all we can for the home producer. It is true, as I said in reply to an earlier Question, that the crop this year is much greater than last year, when, in fact, it was small. But I also took the opportunity of pointing out that the import quota of 15,200 tons has not varied over a number of years and our own production is 18 times greater than that.
Mr James Hoy: We are bound to take all that into consideration. When the import quota was fixed, as it was, at 15,200 tons, we took into account what producers in Southern Europe were producing, and what protection we ought to give to our home producers, as well as the selection that would be available to housewives and the prices they would have to pay.
Mr James Hoy: As I said, the six months' quota is 15,200 tons, and it is usually in the second half that imports are greater; but in total they cannot exceed 15,200 tons.
Mr James Hoy: No, Sir. About 97 Percent. of our fresh milk is already pasteurised. There is a specific consumer demand for untreated milk, and in some remote rural areas the delivery of heat-treated milk could not be assured.
Mr James Hoy: I can justify it by saying that there are certain areas where if people did not get this milk they would not have a milk supply at all. My hon. Friend should not exaggerate too much, because cases of milk-borne disease often come from careless and unhygienic handling of milk after the sale has taken place. While we do not minimise the danger, we should keep it in its proper perspective.
Mr James Hoy: I could perhaps let the hon. and learned Gentleman have the figures. I do not have details of the actual quantity here. I thought it better to give the percentages so that the House would be able to measure what was involved in this question.
Mr James Hoy: Fireblight was recorded by my Department on 100 farms and nursery holdings in 1969. This compared with 142, 164 and 140 in 1966, 1967 and 1968 respectively. In 1969 approximately 2,250 apple and 600 pear trees were affected.
Mr James Hoy: We have been revising the literature dealing with the disease. The hon. Member will know that it is a very difficult disease to deal with. We have through our publicity section and the N.A.A.S. service attempted to convey to everyone concerned just what is involved in the disease. We are doing our utmost to warn people of its dangers.
Mr James Hoy: I have nothing to add to the statement I made in answer to a Question from my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Aberdeen, North (Mr. Hector Hughes) on 22nd October.—[Vol. 788, c. 236.]
Mr James Hoy: I think the first part of that supplementary question had been prepared before my hon. and learned Friend heard the answer. No method of investigation of oceanographic research has any significant effect on fish.
Mr James Hoy: On 29th October our officials met the representatives of the Federation and other objectors to the General Levy Regulations made by the Authority on 23rd September, 1969, and took careful note of the points made. All these objections will be taken into account by my right hon. Friend in considering whether to confirm the regulations, but I cannot anticipate the result of that consideration.
Mr James Hoy: I am very grateful for that supplementary question. I can assure my hon. and learned Friend that we pay particular attention to the views of not only this organisation, but every section of the fishing industry.
