Brussels, 07/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - At the FAO ministerial meeting on price volatility in Rome on Monday 7 October, Agricultrue Commissioner Dacian Ciolos argued that monitoring of agricultural markets will be effective “if it is complemented by agricultural policies and governance; by public and private investment; trade and the structuring of regional and sub-regional markets and particularly transparent, clear and stable institutional environments”.
Definite responses have to be brought swiftly to a number of important issues, he said.
In terms of property law, major investment needs a long-term framework “from the points of view of land use, the rights of the local populations and the benefits they derive from it” (he also spoke of honest coexistence with subsistence farming). Guidelines exist but, according to Ciolos, more has to be done to support local, regional and national authorities (legal instruments that are properly adapted to the different situations).
The commissioner suggested that a debate had to be held on crisis stocks, and he felt that progress was being made. Some African countries use both crisis stocks and market management instruments. Ciolos said account had to be taken of the limitations of such mechanisms and instruments had to be provided that are better suited to the new generation of agricultural policies which avoid raw protectionism. (LC/transl.fl)