Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Earl Attlee (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 25 March 2008.

Food: Grain Stocks

Question: My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. Does he agree that, while the situation is serious, the origin is not national? Is there a blueprint for managing this situation or will there just be a scramble for this vital commodity?

Answer: My Lords, it is not national as the noble Earl accepts. As I have said, removing set-aside, for starters, should stimulate grain production and we hope help to contain prices. The EU has taken other measures, including the temporary suspension of import duties on feed grains until the end of this growing season in June and the reselling of all the remaining intervention public stocks of grain. In the longer term, we expect set-aside to be abolished. As for as the UK is concerned, the Home Grown Cereals Authority—one of the levy boards—has been conducting, with the Cereals Industry Forum funded by Defra, risk-management training, so that all parts of the food chain can understand their particular role in that part of a very volatile situation, and one which we expect to remain volatile for some years to come.

Secondary information