The European Milk Board (EMB) today (Monday, December 16) warned that “far-reaching reforms” are needed that will deliver “long-term prospects” for dairy farmers.
The European Commission last week proposed “new measures to strengthen farmers’ position in the agri-food supply chain”.
It outlined “targeted amendments” to the current legal framework of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) and a new regulation on cross-border “enforcement against unfair trading practices”.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has stressed that “fairness for farmers is a key priority”.
However the EMB said that while it welcomes the fact that the commission has proposed amendments to the CMO, it believes the proposed reforms are “still too superficial”.
EMB
The organisation, whose members include the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), has taken issue in particular with the European Commission’s proposal on “compulsory contracts across the EU for the delivery of milk and milk products”.
“This would lay the first important foundation as EU-wide obligatory contracts can be very useful for producers.
“However, this would only materialise if these contracts contained the right conditions,” the EMB stated.
It believes that prices in the contract “must be higher than the costs incurred by the producer” and that there must be “no exemption for co-operatives and their members from compulsory contracts”.
The EMB has also called for a “revision clause” to be inserted in the contracts that have a minimum duration of more than six months.
“Such a clause is useful to request a change in or renegotiate contract conditions, especially in case of changing market conditions like rising production costs, or to terminate the contract,” it stated.
Dairy farmers
The organisation has also called for “improved co-ordination between authorities on unfair trading practices”.
The EMB believes that the commisson’s current proposals do not go far enough.
“In recent months and years, many across the sector have realised that farmers can remain in production only if fair price setting exists, and only then will the next generation be willing to consider this profession in the first place.
“By failing to address this issue, the EU has squandered an opportunity to finally send the right signal to farmers,” it warned.
In general Kjartan Poulsen, president of the EMB, believes the commission’s proposals are “an important first step”.
“They are not enough to solve the fundamental issues plaguing the dairy and agricultural sector.
“We need far-reaching reforms that would offer farmers long-term prospects and substantially strengthen the sector.
“Without fair price setting and guaranteed fair remuneration, it will be impossible to address sectoral challenges,” he said.
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