Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 22 May 2002.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Management Committee of the common organisations of agricultural markets for seeds is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement.
The mandate of the Seeds Management Committee is to facilitate stability in the market for seeds and to ensure a fair income for producers through the payment of appropriate levels of production aid. The Committee has met four times over the past 12 months. UK representation at the Committee has been two officials for each meeting, and the cost of representation has been around £5,300.
The major item under discussion this year has been the introduction of a stabiliser mechanism to constrain EU expenditure on seed production aid.
Together with member states, the Commission is currently conducting a review to bring existing legislation on the conduct of comitology committees into line with Council Decision 1999/468/EC, to simplify the requirements for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission.
As an obligation to this decision, the Commission undertook to publish an annual report on the working of committees. The first report was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on
As part of the review process, the UK Government has encouraged the Commission to produce and maintain an electronic database of every comitology committee, its agendas and recent actions, to be accessible through its website.
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