On 30 August 2013 I announced details of the fifteenth Milk Quota Trading Scheme which is the first of two Trading Schemes to allocate quota in respect of the 2014/2015 milk quota year. The closing date for receipt of applications to this stage was 11 October last.
I am informed that preliminary output reports indicate that 256 applications were received in the Department by that deadline, offering approximately 30 million litres of quota for sale, while 2,113 applications were received requesting approximately 140 million litres. I expect to be in a position to announce the results of this element of the scheme in early December.
I also expect to announce details of the second stage of the 2014-2015 Trading Scheme before end-December 2013. This stage, which will be the final opportunity to buy or sell quota through the Milk Quota Trading Scheme, will have a closing date of 31 January 2014