Vol. 444 No. 3
48 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry his views on whether access to intervention for products such as beef, butter and cereals will continue indefinitely, particularly in the event that Eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary have their applications for membership of the European Union accepted.
There are no quantitative restrictions on access to intervention for butter or cereals. As regards beef, an intervention ceiling of 750,000 tonnes was introduced from 1 January 1994 reducing to 350,000 tonnes by 1997. However, safety net intervention will continue to be available at 60 per cent of the intervention price without affecting the ceiling. There are no Commission proposals to restrict intervention access further.
I am satisfied that appropriate market support measures, including access to intervention will continue as the Union enlarges.
