COPA URGES TAX ON VEGETABLE PROTEINS
  The European Community's farmers'
  pressure group Copa has urged EC farm ministers to agree a tax
  on vegetable proteins similar to the oils and marine fats tax
  which has already been proposed by the EC Commission.
      Copa president Hans Kjeldsen told a news conference on
  Tuesday he had also urged ministers to seek a similar mechanism
  for cereal substitutes.
      He was speaking after a meeting of farm leaders with the
  Danish foreign and agriculture ministers, who currently chair
  meetings of their EC colleagues.
      Kjeldsen said taxes on the products concerned would help
  the EC's budget problems and would provide some price stability
  for producers.
      This would in turn help the market position for certain
  crops of which the EC is a net importer such as oilseeds, peas
  and beans, but for which the Commission is now proposing severe
  output restrictions.
      A minority of EC ministers opposed to an oils and fats tax
  on imported and domestically produced oils and marine fats
  succeeded in blocking the idea during this year's annual EC
  price fixing.
      However, the EC Commission has said it maintains its
  proposals for a tax.
      Kjeldsen said Copa had urged the ministers to pursue
  international negotiations on farm trade with the aim of
  bridging the gap between EC and world prices.
  

