Brussels, 17/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - During the Agriculture-Fisheries Council on Wednesday, several Member Sates asked for export refunds to be set in place for pig meat, in addition to private storage aid already accepted by the European Commission to bring the sector out of the current market crisis (yesterday's EUROPE, p.16). Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom were opposed to this, referring to the rules of the WTO. Commissioner Franz Fischler took up the argument of these three countries and add that the setting in place of refunds would create until 1 May 2004, the date of enlargement, a situation of unfair competition toward acceding countries, including Poland, which exports a great deal of pork to Russia. According to Mr Fischler, it was preferable to use the private storage aid system during two or three weeks and to then assess whether it is necessary to take other measures, such as export refunds. He explained that the pig meat crisis was due to three factors: - the euro's rise in value compared to the dollar; -the rise in prices for animal feed following the heatwave; - and the fall in consumer demand.
Furthermore, the United Kingdom drew attention to the proposal presented at the management committee to exclude from the reduction in the import levy (EUR 250/tonne) certain varieties of "Basmati" rice particularly important for Pakistan ("Pusa" and "Super" varieties).