Brussels, 16/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - The new EU rules on aid for fruit and vegetable producer organisations have raised concerns within the industry. In a press release published on Thursday 15 July, COPA (Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations) and COGECA (General Committee for Agricultural Cooperation in the European Union) urge ministers to “ensure that producer organisations are properly supported to enable them to have a fairer share of the retail price”.
This request comes after the vote in the management committee on proposals relating to the rules for the application of the EU aid regime for the fruit and vegetable sector (see EUROPE 10181). The new system will replace the notion “first stage processing” which has given rise to interpretation difficulties, related to POs which process their own products into canned and frozen fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, etc. by a system of fixed coefficients (flat rates) to be applied to the "invoiced value" of processed fruit and vegetables.
According to COGECA President Paolo Bruni, the new rules for calculating the Value of Marketed Production, which serves to determine Community support for producer organisations, “constitute a step in the wrong direction”. He went on to say that “they reduce the financial support to POs strongly engaged in the process of valorisation of their members' production”. COGECA acknowledges the efforts made by the Commission to try to find a reasonable agreement on this very important issue.
COPA and COGECA warn that farmers' market returns are currently being squeezed. This is because farmers and their cooperatives “are up against the huge buying power of a handful of processors and supermarkets”. For all farmers, the share of the retail price has plummeted from 31% to 24% in just 10 years, the farmers' organisations say. (L.C./transl.rt)