Brussels, 17/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 17 May in Brussels, the French minister for agriculture informed his EU counterparts about the preparation of the international action plan for tackling price volatility of agricultural raw materials. This action plan will be debated by G20 agriculture ministers on 22-23 June in Paris.
France is currently presiding over the G20 and is focusing on the following themes: improving market information and transparency; improving international coordination for enhancing confidence in international markets and preventing food crises; developing long-term agricultural production in order to respond to growing demand; and updating risk management tools for combating excessive price volatility in food products. During the Council, six ministers of agriculture from Ireland, Finland, Poland, Luxembourg, Austria and Greece spoke in support of France's objective to implement an ambitious action plan at G20 level to fight price volatility in agricultural products.
On the issue of increasing transparency on the markets themselves, the European commissioner for agriculture, Dacian Cioloº, said that he was in favour of creating a joint platform (AMIS - agricultural markets information system), which would pool and publish appropriate market data on food safety (this instrument already exists for the energy markets). He also gave his support to setting up an early warning system for food prices at regional and international levels. The idea consists of setting up a “rapid response forum” for receiving and examining information from the platform mentioned above and proposing a range of responses when the market situation indicates that there is a serious risk to food security.
Trade: the Commission supports the recommendation made in the DDP (Doha Development Programme), which aims to enhance rules on export bans and restrictions. In this context, food purchasing for humanitarian purposes is exempt from export restrictions and/or special taxes, explained the commissioner for agriculture. (L.C./transl.fl)