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Fishery Research Vessels
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the present condition of fishery research vessels in the United Kingdom; how many of them there are; how many are in full service; how many are mothballed; and how many are engaged in European, as opposed to purely British, programmes.[HL1768]
Lord Donoughue: Fishery research vessels are operated by three government departments within the United Kingdom. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) is an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and has two vessels, RV "Cirolana" and RV "Corystes". Both are fully operational, although "Cirolana" is now 28 years old and is only used for part of the year, pending planned replacement with a new research vessel.
The Fisheries Research Service (FRS), an Executive Agency of the Scottish Office, has two vessels in full service, RV "Scotia", which is about to be replaced with a new vessel during May 1998, and RV "Clupea". The Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland operates one vessel, RV "Lough Foyle", which is fully operational. All of these vessels are engaged in
European programmes of monitoring and research, through the co-ordination provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.Meat Imports from non-EU Countries1998-99
Lord Hooson asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will set out the agreed European Union import tariff quotas and arrangements for
the importation of beef, veal and lamb from non-European Union countries between 1 July 1998 and 30 June 1999; what separate arrangements cover the importation from each country; and what estimate the Government have made of the quantity of these importations in the United Kingdom.[HL1685]
Lord Donoughue: Imports are forecast on a quarterly basis. It is provisionally forecast that 80,000 tonnes of beef and veal and 100,000 tonnes of mutton and lamb (both expressed in product weight) will be imported into the United Kingdom from non-EU countries between 1 July 1998 and 30 June 1999. However, the actual level of imports will depend on the prevailing market situation in the period up to July 1999.
Imports of beef, veal and sheepmeat into the European Union are subject to import tariffs. There are various concessionary import schemes which allow imports at reduced tariff rates. Not all of these schemes run on the WTO year (1 July to 30 June): some follow the calendar year. The details are as follows: Beef Import Quotas Bilateral or Multilateral Quotas (Calendar Year)
(i) The ACP Scheme--Boneless beef imports, limited as below, may be imported free of customs duties and at 8 per cent. of the EC import tariff from developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific:
- Botswana: 18,916
Kenya: 142
Madagascar: 7,579
Namibia: 13,000
Swaziland: 3,363
Zimbabwe: 9,100
Total: 52,100 tonnes
- Croatia: 9,400 tonnes
Bosnia-Herzegovina: 1,500 tonnes
GATT Quotas (WTO Year)
(iv) Young male animals for fattening--Young male cattle for fattening. Imports are subject to Customs duty but a reduced or nil rate of import tariff. 1997-98 quota set at 169,000 head, of which 143,650 may be sent to
Italy, 21,970 to Greece and 3,380 into other member states.(v) Frozen Beef and Veal--Total allocation is 53,000 tonnes of frozen beef at 20 per cent. customs duty and no import tariff.
(vi) Hilton Beef Quota--High quality beef at 20 per cent. customs duty but no import duty:
- North America: 11,500
Argentina: 28,000
Brazil: 5,000
Australia: 7,000
Uruguay: 6,300
New Zealand: 300
Total 58,100 tonnes
(vii) Frozen Thin Skirt--1,500 tonnes at no import tariff and 4 per cent. duty, of which 700 tonnes allocated to Argentina, 800 tonnes to other third countries.
(viii) Alpine and Mountain Breeds--10,000 head of cattle for breeding. 5,000 head at 4 per cent. Customs duty and 5,000 head at 6 per cent. Customs duty. East Europe Association Agreements
Live animals 80 kg to 300 kg--Imports from Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are fixed at 76,500 head with a Customs duty of 15 per cent. and import tariff of 20 per cent.
Beef, Fresh and Frozen--Imports limited as below with a security of 12 ecu/100 kg and import tariff of 20 per cent:
- Poland: 12,828
Hungary: 8,732
Czech Republic: 3,495
Slovakia: 2,020
Bulgaria: 310
Romania: 2,044
Total: 29,429 tonnes
- Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia = 1,650 tonnes
fresh/frozen beef
Latvia = 220 tonnes processed beef
Slovenia Quota--During 1998, 7,700 tonnes of chilled or frozen beef from Slovenia at 20 per cent. import tariff.
| sheepmeat and goatmeat | Live animals | Live animals and or meat | Duty | |
| Country of Origin | Tonnes, carcase weight equivalent | Carcase weight equivalent | ||
| Argentina | 23,000 | nil | ||
| Australia | 18,650 | nil | ||
| Chile | 3,000 | nil | ||
| New Zealand | 226,700 | nil | ||
| Uruguay | 5,800 | nil | ||
| Iceland | 1,350 | nil | ||
| Bosnia Herzegovina | 850 | nil | ||
| Croatia | 450 | nil | ||
| Slovenia | 50 | nil | ||
| Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | 1,750 | nil | ||
| Poland | 9,200 | nil | ||
| Romania | 337.5 | 1,950 | nil | |
| Hungary | 138,62.5 | nil | ||
| Bulgaria | 5,388 | nil | ||
| Czech Republic | 2,025 | nil | ||
| Slovakia | 4,050 | nil | ||
| Other: of which | 607.5 | nil | ||
| Greenland | 100 | nil | ||
| Faroe Islands | 20 | nil | ||
| Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania | 107.5 | nil | ||
| Turkey | 200 | nil | ||
| Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | 215 (tonnes liveweight) | 10% | ||
| Others | 105 (tonnes liveweight) | 10% |
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