Brussels, 23/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Sunday, 22 February at the Salon de l'agriculture in Paris, Commissioner Phil Hogan announced aid for pork meat producers. This assistance is aimed at reducing the effects of the Russian embargo on pork meat, which has been in force since February 2014, for health reasons.
On Sunday, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, announced that the Commission would authorise pork meat private storage aid, in an effort to increase prices, which have collapsed since the introduction of the Russian embargo in February 2014. This proposal is expected to be examined on Tuesday, 24 February, during an EU management committee meeting. It will involve financing storage (which tends to be expensive) for products that have been withdrawn from the market, in an effort to increase market prices.
The draft Commission regulation for pork meat private storage aid is planned for 90, 120 or 150 days. Depending on the storage period and cut, aid will be, for example, according to this proposal €230, €243 or €257/per tonne for half carcasses and €281, €293 or €305/t for ham and deboned loin and breasts. The guarantee requested should correspond to 20% of the amount of aid. Each request will need to bring a minimum of 10 tonnes for deboned products and 15 tonnes for others.
The Commissioner met pork producers at the Salon d'agriculture event and explained that the measure should help withdraw a considerable volume of products from the market and subsequently stabilise the financial situation for farmers and stimulate the fragile price recovery. France and several European countries had called for this measure and the president of France, François Hollande, had even raised this question with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, explained the French Minister of Agriculture in a press release published on Sunday 22 February.
In February 2014, Russia introduced an embargo on European pork, officially because of fears regarding African swine fever in Lithuania and Poland. The EU lodged a complaint against this embargo at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Hogan stated that he was aware of the difficulties facing pork producers and the fact that the situation was particularly difficult due to the unjustified embargo imposed by Russia.
Private storage aid has already been activated for milk powder and cheese, following the embargo Russia decided to introduce in August 2014, on this occasion, due to the crisis with Ukraine. Aid for cheese has subsequently been suspended, due to unjustified requests from certain producers.
Maize. Hogan also announced that the Commission accepted the request from several countries, including France, again, for a derogation for maize producers, so that they can benefit from European aid linked to the “greening” of certain crops. Most producers can claim this aid by growing winter crops in their fields until at least 1 February, without having to revert to the crop rotation usually demanded by the Commission. The Commissioner has therefore responded to France's request to recognise these so-called “equivalent” measures that help respond to greening requirements. (Lionel Changeur)