Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quantity of products they have bought under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy; and how they plan to manage those products following Brexit.

The Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) public intervention system allows operators to request that a Member State buys certain agricultural products such as skimmed milk powder (SMP) into public storage. Such stocks are subsequently resold when market prices recover. With the greater market orientation of the CAP, public intervention now operates as a safety net measure that is only relevant when prices are very low, as occurred during the “milk crisis” of 2015/16 when large quantities of SMP were bought into public intervention in the EU.

As at 22 February 2018, the UK held 7,731.85 tonnes of skimmed milk powder in public intervention stores, equivalent to around 2% of total EU purchases. The European Commission is currently reselling the older public stocks of skimmed milk powder back onto the domestic market. The pace of these sales will depend on a number of factors, including the market price, the competitiveness of the bids and the quantities bid for.

Looking forward, it is still to be determined what will happen to any intervention stocks held by the UK that remain unsold once we leave the EU. This will be subject to discussions as part of the withdrawal agreement and on any implementation period.

There are no other products held in public storage in the UK under CAP measures.