Brussels, 03/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 2 February, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, was able to gain first-hand knowledge of the Belgian requests for supplementary measures in the pork meat and milk sectors. These sectors have been affected by the Russian embargo on EU agricultural products.
The Irish Commissioner visited two farms (one in Walloon Brabant and the other in Flemish Brabant). Belgium is defending measures to reduce supply by 2% in pork meat, in an effort to increase current prices. In the context of milk (skimmed milk powder has fallen from 31.75% since the beginning of the Russian embargo in August and the end of December 2014), Belgium is calling for an increase in the intervention price, so that the public authorities can intervene earlier by buying up surpluses or by supporting private milk storage measures. The Federal Minister for Agriculture, Willy Borsus (see EUROPE11240) said that Hogan appeared to be very receptive to the idea of additional temporary measures for the pork sector. Belgium also called for the EU to take into account profit margins and not just prices when working out support policies. (LC)