Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Andrew Smith (Labour) on Monday, 21 November 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 23 November 2011. It was answered by James Paice (Conservative) on Monday, 12 December 2011 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Imports: Israel

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what total volume by (a) value and (b) tonnage of fresh fruit and vegetables was imported from Israel in each of the last five years; and what proportion by (i) value and (ii) tonnage (A) had and (B) did not have a certificate of conformity with marketing standards issued by the Israeli authorities.
Answer

The requirement for a certificate of conformity is only relevant for imports of those particular products which are covered by EU marketing standards for fresh fruit and vegetables. Certain products such as potatoes are not covered by the standards—but for information import figures for this crop are also included in the following tables:

Table 1: Total (a) value and (b) volume of fresh fruit and vegetables, as regulated by EU marketing standards, for 2006-10
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Description £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes
Fresh fruit 30,513 37,075 31,316 41,503 24,824 31,707 27,633 31,813 27,194 28,989
Fresh vegetables 14,547 13,610 18,285 15,847 12,815 12,427 14,920 25,225 16,237 18,115
Source:
HM Revenue and Customs. Data prepared by DEFRA.
Table 2. Total tonnage and proportion of imports, as regulated by EU marketing standards, that (a) had (b) did not have a certificate of conformity issued by the Israeli authorities
Tonnes Percentage
With certificate Without Total With certificate Without
2007 23,099 5,297 28,396 81 19
2008 33,011 17,917 50,928 65 35
2009 9,050 6,547 15,597 58 42
2010 17,418 11,561 28,979 60 40
2011¹ 11,963 3,127 15,090 79 21
¹ Until 22 November 2011
Note:
July 2009—changes to the marketing standards saw the number of specific marketing standards reduced from 36 to 10.
Table 3. Total (a) value and (b) volume of imports of potatoes
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Type Description £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes
Potatoes New potatoes; fresh or chilled 25,500 82,306 31,005 101,086 31,338 103,091 18,861 63,508 18,900 61,236
Potatoes-other (main crop/ware); fresh or chilled 1,329 4,018 2,057 7,295 2,719 10,484 4,373 16,970 771 2,107
Potatoes total 26,829 86,323 33,062 108,381 34,057 113,575 23,234 80,477 19,672 63,343
Source:
HM Revenue and Customs. Data prepared by DEFRA.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
82408; 537 c466-8W
Session
2010-12
Subjects
Imports Israel
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk