Brussels, 16/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - At the Agriculture Council in Brussels on Monday 16 November, the European Commission said that private storage aid for pigmeat could be agreed on 1 December and applicable from 1 January 2016.
Elsewhere, several countries said that the measures taken by the Commission in October to support the sectors in difficulty (€500 million package) had not yet delivered the hoped-for results, particularly in the milk sector (see other article).
Swift action on pigmeat. At the meeting, several countries called on the Commission to activate private storage aid for pork. Belgium said that the “catastrophic” situation on the pigmeat market was worse than in September. Austria, too, spoke of a catastrophic situation in the sector and urged that private storage aid be introduced from 1 December if possible, rather than from the start of next year as the Commission plans. Austria also called for the rate of private storage aid for pigmeat to be increased and for direct exporting after removal from storage. France also called for swift implementation of private storage aid. The Netherlands also called for private storage aid to be activated but is of the view that this is not a sufficient response, being only a short-term measure. Structural measures are required, according to the Netherlands.
Not (yet) great enough effect on milk. Belgium expressed the view that the measures taken in the milk sector had brought changes for the better, but not great enough. “It's not making its way through to the farmers”, regretted Belgian Minister Willy Borsus, advocating structural measures, including increasing the intervention price for powdered milk. Belgium also called for closer monitoring of producers' margins. The work done by the task force on the food chain is very disappointing, according to Belgium. The Commission said that the results of what the task force is doing would only be known at the end of 2016. Austrian Minister Andrä Rupprechter felt that milk process had stabilised somewhat “but at a low level”. The Netherlands spoke out to oppose increasing the intervention price in the milk sector. The United Kingdom noted a slight levelling off of price falls in the milk sector and called for longer-term measures.
Sugar. Belgium highlighted the historically low sugar prices and called for measures to be adopted.
Not all the delegations had spoken about agricultural markets at the time of our going to press. Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and others still had to speak.
No progress on Russian pork ban. Belgium called on Monday 16 November on the Commission to report back on the state of play in discussions with Moscow on the embargo on pigmeat imposed by Russia for health reasons. At the Agriculture Council, a number of countries - Denmark, Netherlands, Hungary, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Austria, Poland, Ireland, Finland and Germany - gave their backing to Belgium. Several pork products (live pigs, fat, bacon and offal) are not affected by the political embargo and exports of these products could resume if agreement were reached with the Russian veterinary services, thereby helping to reduce the glut on the European market. The Commission said that it had twice written to the Russian veterinary services to arrange technical meetings. The stumbling block is that the principle of regionalisation, as envisaged at European level, is not recognised by the Russians. If any change is brought to this style of regionalisation, it could lead to discrimination among EU countries, the Commission said, in substance. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)