Brussels, 31/05/2011 (Agents Europe) - Speaking in Debrecen (Hungary) on Tuesday 31 May, EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloº said the Commission would be seeking all available means to help vegetable growers survive the e.coli outbreak. The idea is to use aid earmarked for fruit and vegetable co-owners, state aid and other aid in the event of a serious crisis. The vegetable industry is suffering in several countries, particularly Spain and the Netherlands, because of the deadly diarrhoeas attacks said to be caused by e.coli in cucumbers (see related article). Spain and the Netherlands are calling for compensation from the EU.
The meeting in Debrecen on Tuesday of EU27 farm ministers was overshadowed by the impact of the e.coli food poisoning outbreak that has already killed 16 people in Europe. Worried Spanish horticulturists said on Tuesday that virtually all of Europe had stopped buying Spanish fruit and vegetables due to suspicion that e.coli might be present in Spanish cucumbers. The Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU had to add the subject to the agenda of the working meeting of farm ministers, initially scheduled to discuss livestock farming, which is suffering because of the drought and high animal feed prices.
The Hungarian agriculture minister, Sandor Fazekas, said a joint EU approach and solution had to be found to the crisis. At a press conference in Debrecen on Tuesday, he said lessons had to be learnt but the early warning system for food and feed (RASFF) had proved highly effective despite there being room for improvement. At the meeting, several ministers criticised the RASFF for operating too slowly, however. Germany is reported to have explained the delay in issuing the first warning by the special nature of the contamination investigation.
Farm ministers stressed the need for further evidence to find out exactly what happened, explained the Hungarian Presidency, adding that when all the facts were in, it would be possible to take effective action. Fazebas said all the suitable solutions had to be examined very closely to protect consumers and horticulturists. Sources suggest that a special meeting of EU farm ministers may be organised in the week of 14 June to discuss the matter.
Spain and the Netherlands demand compensation. On Tuesday, Spain and the Netherlands demanded compensation for the collapse of their fruit and vegetable sales following the deaths said to be caused by e.coli contamination of cucumbers. The Spanish farm minister, Rosa Aguilar, said the situation was especially serious for the Spanish fruit and vegetable industry with losses already amounting at €200 million a week.
The export of Dutch vegetables to Germany stopped virtually overnight and the country will also be asking the EU for financial aid for Dutch horticulturists. Rosa Aguilar accused the Germany health authorities of making very unfortunate statements laying the blame on Spanish cucumbers for the e.coli outbreak without having any reliable information to back up the statement. The enterohaemorrhagic strain of e.coli is particularly virulent but has never been found or identified in Spain, added Rosa Aguilar.
France said that it was experiencing a huge drop in the sale of cucumbers and other vegetables.
Dacian Cioloº said that a crisis was beginning to hit the vegetable industry, a crisis of confidence that was starting to have serious economic repercussions for the vegetable-growing industry in specific member states. To restore consumer confidence, he said evidence of where the outbreak arose needed to be published. The problem would then need to be isolated so that it did not have a ripple effect on the rest of the vegetable industry, added the Commission, noting that most horticulturists respect the standards.
Aid measures. Cioloº said that most aid measures for the fruit and vegetable industry were destined for producer organisations, but there was the possibility of providing finance to buy up stocks of specific fruit or vegetables in the event of a crisis and the cost of this could partly be covered by the EU aid for producer organisations. The commissioner said that such purchases were allowed for the withdrawal from sale of up to 5% of annual production. In the event of a crisis, a larger percentage could be withdrawn, within limits.
Then there is the option of state aid, up to a certain limit, for horticulturist not belonging to a producer organisation. Finally, under Article 191 of the regulation on the common organisation of the market, there is the possibility of granting financial aid in a serious crisis (floods, earthquakes and the like). The Commission is examining whether this could legally be extended to an e.coli outbreak. (L.C./transl.fl)