asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the action he proposes to take with regard to the imposition by the EEC of 16 per cent duties on exports of Irish cattle to the Continent, in view of the fact that Italy imports store cattle from outside the Community, duty-free; and how long he expects the full duty to remain in force.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Cattle Exports.
96.
It is not correct to say that Italy imports store cattle duty-free from outside the Community and that there is an EEC duty of 16 per cent on Irish cattle exports to the Continent.
As regards imports into Italy from outside the Community, there is a customs duty of 8 per cent on young cattle for fattening, 4 to 6 cwts approximately, and a customs duty of 16 per cent on adult cattle. On imports from Ireland into the original Six members of the Community the comparable customs duties are at the lower levels of 6.4 per cent on young cattle and 12.8 per cent on adult cattle.
Accession compensatory amounts related to the difference in guide price levels, however, apply to all imports of Irish and British cattle into the Six. Both the customs duties and the accession compensatory amounts against Irish cattle by the Six will be phased out entirely by 1977. Meanwhile, I am pressing the EEC Council of Ministers to agree that at any time when no levy, additional to the customs duty, is being charged on cattle and beef imports from third countries into the Six, no accession compensatory amount additional to the relevant customs duty should be charged on similar imports from Ireland so as to give us the full benefit of our lower customs duty. EEC regulations already provide that the total of the customs duty and accession compensatory amount charged on cattle and beef imports from us into the Six do not at any time exceed the total of the customs duties and any levies charged on similar imports from third countries.
Finally, because of the floating down of the pound and the lira from their official exchange parities, certain compensating monetary amounts, in the form of charges on exports and subsidies on imports, apply to British and Irish exports and Italian imports of, inter alia, cattle and beef.