Excerpt from The Grain Price System of the European Community The Treaty of Rome in 1957 established the basis for the European Community's common agricultural policy (cap) for grain. Beginning on July 1, 1962, the six member states brought their individual grain policies through a transition period which was completed in most respects on July 1, 1967. Prior to establishment of the cap, levels of support prices for grains in France were partly dependent upon changes in world market conditions. In addition, large French producers of wheat were under a quantum system, which reduced the final level of returns as the amount of wheat delivered increased; in some years this feature meant that marginal returns were no higher than the world price. The feedgrain prices in other member countries were based generally upon world market levels. Only in West Germany were all grain prices guaranteed at a level well above the world price level. The Community since July 1, 1967, has guaranteed the price of ec-produced grain at a relatively high level through a system of intervention or support prices. Since EC intervention prices are above the levels of external or world prices. The intervention system must be protected from these external influences if it is to function. All grains imported enter the Community at price levels above the highest intervention price. The mechanism for raising the prices of imported grains to these levels is the variable import levy. Threshold prices (which are further explained in the section describing the EC import system) are set for each grain to serve as a basis for the levies assessed against grain entering from third countries. These threshold prices, though applied at a different location, generally parallel the internal-market intervention prices which they are designed to protect. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.