At the Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries in Luxembourg yesterday, Agriculture Minister Fernand Etgen encouraged the Maltese presidency to find ways to make further progress on reaching agreement with the European Parliament on improvements in standards for organic production.
"Significant progress has been made in recent months and the text currently on the table includes improvements in relation to the current regime, in particular in the area of imports from third countries and precautionary measures to prevent the presence of unauthorised substances”, said the minister.
The situation of the main agricultural markets was also on the agenda of the Council. Commissioner Hogan said he believes that the overall market situation is positive. Dairy deliveries have declined and the price paid to producers has stabilised. Some member states, however, are concerned about the level of skimmed-milk powder stocks in the intervention and the trend in its price. The European Commission has, however, reassured the member states that the release of the stocks in question will be carried out with vigilance and will not happen immediately. It also recalled that skimmed milk powder constitutes only 6% of the EU's milk production, which in a way reduces its price.
In the swine sector, there is also an improvement in the situation even though African swine fever continues to affect producers in different regions of the EU. For poultry meat, avian influenza has caused significant income losses in some regions, especially in Hungary and France. For fruit and vegetables and for wine, the market situation is relatively stable. The effects of late frosts should be evaluated. With regard to cereals, following the unfavourable climatic conditions, the prospects for the 2017 harvest can be better evaluated in the coming weeks.
Agriculture ministers discussed the negotiations for a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur. For Fernand Etgen, "Luxembourg has in principle a favourable orientation towards negotiations aimed at achieving free trade agreements that are balanced and take account of the offensive and defensive interests of European agriculture. The transparency of the negotiations is a very important element for us, also with a view to acceptability to the actors concerned, public opinion and the process of ratifying such agreements". Moreover, according to the minister the results must take into account the specificities of European agriculture and the interests of our consumers.
Minister Etgen has also joined a European initiative for the production of non-GMO soybeans and plant proteins in general, proposed by Germany and Hungary. This statement will be signed at the next Agriculture Council in July.
On the proposal for a Regulation on veterinary medicinal products, the minister stressed the considerable progress made in the content of the proposal and remained convinced that it was essential for the action plans to combat resistance Antimicrobial agent, to have this regulation as soon as possible.
Finally, following a review of the results of the audit in Brazil by Commissioner Andriukaitis, Minister Etgen gave full support to the additional protection measures announced by the Commission and recalled that it is essential that the authorities The Commission's requests. In the absence of a response from Brazil, Minister Etgen stressed that, in order to protect consumers, unilateral action to suspend imports of Brazilian meat would be necessary.
Image: Minister Etgen with Clint Camilleri of Malta
