Source:
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/04/241&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN

Agriculture

Fruit and vegetables

The Council held an orientation debate on the fruit and vegetables market organisation. Commissioner Fischler observed that there was a consensus to continue on the path started with the reform of 1996. For transformed products, the Commissioner said that the picture was less clear and a deepened analysis was needed. Regarding crisis management, he pointed out that the Commission was actually working on a communication covering all sectors which could also be useful for the fruit and veg sector. He showed himself sceptical vis-à-vis suggestions to introduce specific promotion tools in this sector, taking into account that horizontal promotion tools already exist.

Organic Action Plan

The Council adopted conclusions to kick-start the action plan for organic farming. Welcoming the decision, Mr Fischler said “The fact that Council shares our analysis of the situation illustrates that we have now a solid and workable platform on which to build organic farming policy. I have consistently maintained that organic farming, with its focus on care for the environment, high standards of animal welfare, and production of higher-value added quality foods tailored to consumer demands, should occupy a central place in the new CAP. And with these Conclusions, you give the Commission the necessary support to do our part of the job. I also note with satisfaction the explicit support for measures to improve consumer confidence and the functioning of the internal market.”

WTO DDA

Commissioner Fischler informed Ministers about the recent state of play of the Doha Round. “The framework decided on 1 August in Geneva locks in the recent reforms of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Overall levels of the most trade distorting domestic support will have to be substantially reduced and down payment of 20% of this reduction is foreseen in the first year of the implementation of the agreement. The Blue Box and the Green Box have been preserved. Now technical discussions have started in order to prepare an agreement on more detailed modalities in Hongkong end 2005.”

Mercosur negotiations

The Commissioner have an update on the EU-Mercosur negotiations. Mercosur unilaterally presented a new offer on 24 September. “Unfortunately, the offer turned out to be degraded in global terms compared to the offer from May this year.

In Mercosur’s offer on agriculture, there were some disappointing elements such as Mercosur coming back to the issue of EU internal subsidies, the refusal of all elements which would protect geographical indications and the back-stepping in market access conditions for some EU key export products. Consequently, the EU side decided to reciprocate by presenting an offer meeting the same level of ambition as the Mercosur offer (i.e. a reduced offer). In agriculture, our offer has also been reduced in certain areas. No increase was made in the tariff quota volumes. We will now see whether the Ministerial Meeting in Lisbon on 20 October will lead to progress.”, the Commissioner underlined.

Rice imports

Mr. Fischler updated his colleagues on the state of play of the new import regime for rice under GATT Article XXVIII. The new regime adopted in July is now in force as from 1 September and is based on a duty of 65 €/t for husked rice and 175 €/t for milled rice.During the negotiations, it was possible to conclude an agreement with India and Pakistan, but not with the other two partners having rights in the negotiations, i.e. the USA and Thailand. “We will therefore pursue the negotiations with both countries in order to arrive at a mutually satisfactory agreement, bearing in mind the sensitiveness of both our producers and our importers.”, he stated.

Wine agreement with US

Informing the Council about the latest developments regarding the EU/US negotiations to conclude a wine and spirits agreement, Commissioner Fischler recalled that the objective of the current negotiations was to agree on an agreement which will be a first step agreement. “This means that the level of ambition of this first step agreement cannot and should not be compared to other important bilateral negotiations on trade in wine in which the EU is currently engaged. The negotiations on the conclusion of an agreement on trade in wine resumed in September 2004. The discussion so far has been rather constructive. And the Commission will continue these talks. We are aiming at consolidating progress made so far and resolving outstanding issues with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable first step agreement as soon as possible.”, he pointed out.

Bananas

The Commission said that following the adoption by the Council of the GATT Article XXVIII mandate to negotiate the move to tariff only for bananas in the WTO on 12 July, the Commission have proceeded immediately with the relevant notification to the WTO. “We intend to start discussions with Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama on Article XXIV.6 to discuss compensation for enlargement and on Article XXVIII for the move to tariff-only, in the coming weeks.”, Mr. Fischler explained.

US Bioterrorism Act

Commissioner Fischler made clear that while the Commission shared the overriding objective to improve the security of citizens by preventing bio-terrorist acts, it believed that there were other ways of reaching this objective without impeding trade. He said that the Commission will continue to follow this issue closely with a view to having a clear picture of actual impact on EU trade in foodstuffs.”, he said.

School milk

As to the discussion on changing the current school milk regime, Mr. Fischler pointed out that there was a review four years ago which led to skimmed milk products and yoghurts being made eligible for the EU subsidy and a new calculation of the subsidy putting more emphasis on the protein content of milk products instead of on fat. “From the Commission’s point of view, the health aspects have already been addressed and there are no obstacles to offer low fat products to schools under the scheme. Although I understand the Danish point of view, I believe that the only objective basis to fix the aid amounts is to base ourselves on the value of the milk components of the products concerned. Any other criteria would be arbitrary and be contrary to the general principles in our market organisations.”, the Commissioner underlined.

Implementation of CAP reform

The negotiations on the CAP reform resulted in June 2003 in various decoupling models: the historical model (the one proposed by the Commission), the regional model and within the regional model the so-called hybrid model (requested by some Member States) where regional and historic elements can be combined. In certain exceptional cases under the hybrid model (chosen by some Member States, including Denmark), there is the possibility to concentrate the individually allocated historical payments (payments received during the reference period 2000-2002) on very few hectares (the hectares declared by the farmer the first year of application of the Single Payment Scheme). It is clear that such practices would not be desirable. However, there are instruments in place to keep such practices under control.

Export refunds for cereals

Regarding Hungary’s request for a special export tender for wheat, Mr. Fischler acknowledged that the surplus situation is particularly serious in Hungary and other Central European Member States, where historical record harvest were attained. However, Fischler said that the Commission could not accept the requests to open a special export. “We have a Single Market and the heavy surplus situation is rather the norm than the exception. There is no justification to single out Hungary or any other Central Europe Member State in this context. Moreover, EU wheat is competitive internationally. The Commission accepts however that such crop levels may cause some disturbance in the organisation of cereal storage. That is why the Commission put forward a proposal to accept the Hungarian requests linked to payment of transport costs from intervention stocks to the Romanian port of Constanza. Furthermore, the Commission is also preparing a proposal to the Council adopting favourable conditions for reimbursement of intervention storage costs.”, Mr. Fischler stated.

State aids for Lithuanian fruit producers

Last week the Lithuanian authorities have notified to the Commission a project of State aid aimed at compensating the damages suffered by owners of apple orchards, strawberry and black currant plantations in the areas affected by spring frosts which occurred in May 2004.

Mr. Fischler explained that the services of the Commission were examining this measure in co-operation with the Lithuanian authorities.

Co-existence

Mr. Fischler welcomed the recent adoption by the Danish Parliament of national legislation for the co-existence of genetically modified crops with conventional and organic agriculture. The Danish law, which has recently been formally notified to the Commission, is currently being inspected by the Commission services. As regards the Task Force for co-existence he stressed that the Commission was strongly committed to help Member States in their process of developing national approaches to co-existence. “The Commission is currently in the preparation of setting up a coordination network among the Member States. Even though I believe that co-existence is best addressed on a national or regional level, this does not mean that everybody has to re-invent the wheel. The network will provide the means for mediating the exchange of information on best practices and scientific results obtained by the Member States.”

Concerning the labelling thresholds for the adventitious presence of GM seeds in conventional seed lots, the Commissioner explained that since no thresholds for the adventitious presence of GMOs in conventional seed lots have been established, any seed lot containing GM seeds authorised for the cultivation in the EU has to be labelled as containing GMOs. Seed lots containing GM seeds that are not authorised for cultivation, can not be marketed in the EU.