The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has revealed that British families pay an extra £470 per year food because of EU taxes imposed on imported goods.
Britons pay two lots of tariffs on many household items. Taxes are first levied on goods manufactured outside the EU and these goods manufactured outside the EU, these go directly toward its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Secondly, the shop selling these imported items passes on an extra cost in the price it charges the shopper. The CAP is estimated to add £8 to £9 a week to the food bill of a family of four.
Patricia Hewitt, the secretary of state for trade and industry launched an attack on the system and called for a change. Ms Hewitt is keen to reform the CAP and EU tax schemes and she will state her case at the world trade talks in Cancun, Mexico in September.
