Brussels, 29/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 29 April, the European Commission announced that it had approved 20 programmes to promote agricultural products in the European Union and in third countries. The total budget of the programmes, the grand majority of which will run for a period of three years, is €46.5 million of which the EU will contribute €23.3 million. The selected programmes cover a variety of product categories, such as quality products (PDOs, PGIs and TSGs), organic products, fresh fruit and vegetables, wines, milk and dairy products, flowers, processed fruit and vegetables, processed cereals and rice, egg labelling, and combinations of different product categories. The third countries and regions targeted are North America, Russia, China, the Middle East, South-East Asia, India, Latin America, Norway, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Turkey
The 20 programmes chosen - 12 target the internal market and 8 target third countries - were chosen from 33 projects submitted by 30 November 2013 under the information and promotion scheme, as the first wave of programme submission for year 2014. The main programmes are as follows: €2.7 million from EU funds for an Italian triennial programme promoting quality products (Prosciutto hams, Grana Padano cheeses), €2.5 million for a Polish fresh fruit and vegetables programme and €2.2 million for a Greek programme promoting fresh fruit and vegetables.
The EU's new system for promoting agricultural products will apply from 2016. (LC)