Brussels, 02/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 29 September, the European Commission adopted a report on the implementation of the 2000 regulation on the Common Organisation of the Markets (COM) in fisheries and aquaculture products. The adoption of this document in effect marks the start of the debate, likely to continue into next year, on updating various measures set out in this COM, reformed in 2000.
The main conclusions are as follows:
Intervention. The policy of reducing levels of intervention “has borne fruit” and the use of this measure varies considerably among Member States, says the Commission. The annual expenditure of the different intervention mechanisms was somewhere between €9 and €12 million, compared with 33 million ecus in the 1990s. Between 2001 and 2004, less than 2% of pelagic production and around 1% of white fish production was withdrawn.
Prices. Market prices do not reflect production costs, in spite of the conservation measures and recovery plans to rebuild stocks of several species. For some species of white fish, for example, the average first sale price did not rise and in some cases fell between 2000 and the start of 2005. The Commission considers that this situation (low prices) is to necessarily due to the increase in imports into the European market and the development of aquaculture. It is more likely to be due to the concentration of sales in large retail chains and increased competition between fish and other food products, which encourage wholesalers to lower their prices and reduce their profit margins. This trend has repercussions along the whole marketing chain, but particularly hard hit are the primary producers, the fishermen.
The Commission acknowledges, however, that the Community market is increasingly dependent on imports from non-EU countries to meet the needs of consumers and the processing industry.
Producers' organisations (POs). These organisations have played an important role in the functioning of the COM. In 2005, there were 203 recognised POs in 16 Member States. 74% of these POs were to be found in Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The Commission notes that factors outside PO control, such a climatic and biological fluctuations or conservation measures, have had an effect on their production and marketing capacity. In 2005, there were only four recognised inter-branch organisations, two in Spain and one in Italy.