Lambast for French
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• The Government has formally protested to the French authorities about changes in their Customs procedures which are seen as a deliberate escalation in the lamb war.
Junior Fanning Minister, John Selwyn Gummer contacted Francois Guillaume, the French Minister of Agriculture, last week about clearance procedures introduced by Customs officials last week which have been delaying consignments of lamb and sheep to and from the UK.
"There has been a sudden and considerable stepping up of sampling of our consignments of lamb and sheep meat. British exporters are reporting that their lorries are being completely unloaded for checks and that in some cases each and every carcase is being inspected and checkweighed," he said.
"This action by the French appears to be targeted on British imports. This is already having a serious impact on trade, and a number of our export consignments are reaching key markets late."
Mr Gummer said some French customers had already started to cancel orders because they could not cope with the uncertainty of delayed deliveries.
The French Government has been asked to take immediate action "to ensure that consignments are not unreasonably impeded and normal, unrestricted trade is resumed."
The Government has also written to the EEC Commission asking it to investigate. E Shadow minister George Foulkes has accused the French Government of possible connivance with violent protesters who are hijacking and destroying lorry loads of British lamb entering France.
He plans to press Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe in Parliament to mount an urgent investigation into allegations that French custom officers are tipping off farmers enabling them to set up ambushes of British lorries. Mr Foulkes said: "If this is true — and British lamb producers now firmly suspect it is true — this amounts to collusion between the French government and protesters who are acting unlawfully. It looks like connivance by the French Government to encourage people to break the law."