1.   Ministers also agreed on minimum excise duty rates for cigarettes, beer, and wine, but not spirits.

2.   Inevitably the question reverts to how far the UK government is prepared to go in persuading its EC partners to harmonise duty rates between beer, wine and spirits.

3.   Apart from adjusting the exemption level and the band thresholds, we can reduce the duty rates.

4.   The differential duty rate already creates an incentive for users to stay with diesel rather than switch to cleaner fuels.

5.   The proposed budget, it said, reflected the rationalisation of duty rates and income tax structure, and encouraged agriculture and education sectors.

6.   The number of duty rates has been brought down to five from the existing six rates.

7.   Under current Lome arrangements, products from exporting countries enter the EU either duty free or at vastly reduced duty rates.

8.   Under the existing Lome Treaty, products from exporting countries enter the European Union either duty free or at vastly reduced duty rates.