Speaking at the annual dinner of the Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association, Dr James Young, head of the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, pointed out that 80 per cent of the province’s cereal requirements had to be bought outside of Northern Ireland.
The EEC Commission’s study of cereal prices in different countries of the EEC, he said, had shown that costs and prices in Northern Ireland were among the highest.
“Neither the Commission nor the Council of Ministers has yet taken a decision on what action, if any, should follow the study but Italy, which has been getting a levy abatement on feed grain imports is seeking an extension of this from the beginning of the 1980-81 cereals year.”
