Europe Agri articles from April 2007

Europe Agri archives from April 2007

AGRICULTURAL PAYMENTS.(Brief article)(Conference notes)
April 13, 2007... The EU Council, following a political agreement at its meeting on 19 March and consultation with representatives of the European Parliament, adopted without debate on 27 March, with the abstention of the Latvian delegation, the regulation...

ANIMAL WELFARE IN GREECE.
April 13, 2007... The European Commission decided on 21 March to refer Greece to the EU Court of Justice for failure to properly implement and enforce the EU directives on animal welfare during transport (Directive 91/628/EEC now replaced by Regulation 1/2005)...

FREEDOM OF ESTABLISHMENT : AUSTRIA FOUND RESTRICTING FOREIGN BOVINE INSEMINATION SERVICES.(Brief article)
April 13, 2007... The European Commission, on 21 March, formally requested (second stage of an infringement procedure) that Austria modify its animal breeding law which hinders the provision of bovine artificial insemination services by foreign artificial...

BUDGETS COMMITTEE WITHDRAWS RESERVE.(Brief article)
April 13, 2007... Following the Council's unanimous agreement in Brussels on 19 March on the compromise reached between the German EU Presidency and the European Parliament on the voluntary modulation of direct aid under the Common Agricultural Policy (see...

BUTTER INTERVENTION STOCKS.
April 13, 2007... The EU member states agreed unanimously on 29 March at the Milk Management Committee to sell almost all remaining stocks of intervention butter onto the EU market. Some 6,091 tonnes of butter will be sold at a minimum price of 243.05 per 100kg...

CEREAL PRODUCTS MERGER CLEARED.
April 13, 2007... On 27 March, the European Commission authorised OEP Holding Corporation (OEP) to acquire Dailycer BV of the Netherlands, Dailycer France SAS, Dailycer Limited of the UK and Delicia BV of the Netherlands. The Dailycer Group manufactures and...

FISHERIES POLICY : COMMISSION ADOPTS IMPLEMENTING RULES FOR EUROPEAN FISHERIES FUND.
April 13, 2007... The European Commission adopted, on 27 March, rules on the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) by member states. These rules complete the legal framework of the EFF, adopted on 19 June 2006 in the form of Regulation EC 1198/2006...

DOHA ROUND : COMMISSION HOPES FOR BREAKTHROUGH BETWEEN MAY AND JULY.(Conference news)
April 13, 2007... The European Commission is hoping that consultations to revive the Doha Round of international trade talks - which have been stepped up in the past few weeks - will conclude with an agreement with all World Trade Organisation members by early...

ANIMAL WELFARE : COMMISSION PUSHES CASE FOR ANIMAL WELFARE LABEL.
April 13, 2007... "Most EU consumers are willing to make an extra effort to buy animal welfare-friendly products. This is a positive trend and the Commission is looking at ways to encourage it, for example by introducing an EU animal welfare label for...

FISHERIES POLICY : COMMISSION SAYS INSPECTION AND CONTROL NEED IMPROVEMENT.
April 13, 2007... The inspectors employed by the member states to control fishing activity under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) should be better trained for the job and stricter sanctions are needed for non-compliance with rules on catch limits and...

FISHING : COMMISSION WANTS TO ELIMINATE DISCARDS.
April 13, 2007... "Discarding is wrong because it represents a waste of precious marine resources. Therefore, it makes no ecological, economic or ethical sense. The sooner we bring this wasteful practice to an end, the better for fish stocks, the marine...

DOHA ROUND : CONCRETE RESULTS STILL ELUSIVE DESPITE EFFORTS TO RELAUNCH NEGOTIATIONS.(Conference news)
April 13, 2007... Despite efforts since the beginning of the year to relaunch the Doha Round of international trade negotiations, there has been very little progress. Speaking in Mexico on 23 March, Pascal Lamy, the Director of the World Trade Organisation...

AGRICULTURAL AIDS : DE MINIMIS' CEILING FOR STATE AID DOUBLED.
April 13, 2007... The ceiling for small amounts of aid ( de minimis' aid) granted by member states in the agriculture sector seems set to be increased to 6,000 per beneficiary over any period of three years and the maximum total per member state to 0.6% of the...

WORLD WATER ASSEMBLY : ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES AND CITIZENS CALL FOR THE "RIGHT TO WATER".
April 13, 2007... Access to water is a basic human right. It must be recognised as such and integrated into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights when the international community celebrates the 60th birthday of the declaration on 10 December 2008. This is...

EU/US : ENERGY COOPERATION TO FOCUS ON BIOFUELS.
April 13, 2007... Transatlantic cooperation on energy will focus on the burgeoning biofuels sector, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said after a meeting with top US officials in Washington on 26 March. Developing second generation, cellulose-based...

FOOD : EP SUPPORTS PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATION ON ENZYMES.
April 13, 2007... Imposing regulations at EU level on the authorisation and labelling of nearly 300 food additives, flavourings and enzymes compared with only two at present. This proposal was launched by the European Commission on 28 July 2006 (co-decision...

PUBLIC SURVEY : EU CITIZENS BACK KEY ELEMENTS OF THE 2003 CAP REFORM.(Survey)
April 13, 2007... Although opinion is often divided over the agricultural policy, the results of a public survey, published by the European commission on 29 March, reveal that a majority of those polled are in favour of the key elements of the 2003 agreement on...

ENVIRONMENT : EU HIGHLIGHTS DIRE NEED FOR IMPROVED WATER MANAGEMENT.
April 13, 2007... Insufficient transposition in national law and serious gaps in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, little respect for provisions of the Waste Water Treatment Directive, incomplete implementation of the Directive on Water...

AGRICULTURAL AIDS : FLEXIBILITY TO BE BUILT INTO CROSS-COMPLIANCE FOR DIRECT SUPPORT.
April 13, 2007... The European Commission adopted on 28 March its report on the application of the system of cross-compliance for direct support, which announces proposals by the end of 2007 on improvements to the system at this stage, in particular some...

GERMAN BOTTLE DEPOSIT SCHEME APPROVED.(Brief article)
April 13, 2007... The European Commission decided on 23 March to drop an infringement procedure against Germany for a one-way drinks packaging deposit system. The Commission originally argued that, when introduced, retailers only had to accept return of...

GMO : GREEN LIGHT FOR THREE GENETICALLY MODIFIED OILSEED RAPES.(Brief article)
April 13, 2007... Three varieties of oilseed rapes known as Ms8, Rf3 and Ms8xRf3,agenetically modified to be tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium, may be imported, marketed and processed in the EU for animal feed and for industrial purposes. The...

ENVIRONMENT : IMPLEMENTATION OF NITRATES DIRECTIVE STILL CONSIDERED INADEQUATE.
April 13, 2007... The third report on the implementation of Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources for the period 2000-2003, adopted on 19 March, shows improvements in the quality...

ENERGY : INDUSTRY NOTES STRONG GROWTH IN BIOETHANOL FUEL PRODUCTION.
April 13, 2007... According to industry association eBIO, there was continued strong growth in bioethanol fuel production in 2006. Total production rose to 1.56 billion litres, an increase of 71% on 2005 figures. The greatest production and growth was in Germany...

LAMBS : INFRINGEMENT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST GREECE FOR ANIMAL IMPORT BAN.
April 13, 2007... At the beginning of March, Greece decided to introduce a national ban on importing fattening lambs and kids (goats) from Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, and from all non-EU countries. Given that intra-Community trade and rules for imports of...

ANIMAL WELFARE : KYPRIANOU CONSIDERS TWO-TIER ANIMAL WELFARE LABELLING.
April 13, 2007... Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou sketched the outlines of his proposal for welfare labelling for animals intended for the production of foods, on 28 March in Brussels, on the sidelines of a conference on this subject. He is reviewing the...

FRUITS & VEGETABLES : MEP CALLS FOR FLEXIBLE REFORM OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SECTOR.
April 13, 2007... The European Commission's objectives for the fruit and vegetable sector reform are good but its proposals are much less so. This is what MEP Isabel Salinas Garcia (PES, Spain) underlined when presenting her draft report on the subject during a...

ENLARGEMENT : MEPS SAY CAP NOT WORKING WELL FOR NEW MEMBER STATES.(Common Agricultural Policy )
April 13, 2007... The European Parliament adopted, on 29 March, a report calling on the European Commission to take more account of the needs of the new member states in its decisions on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In an own-initiative report by Csaba...

MOSCOW SEEKS COMPROMISE IN TRADE DISPUTE.
April 13, 2007... On the eve of the forthcoming EU-Russia Summit scheduled for 18 May, a long-awaited breakthrough in a 16-month-old trade dispute between Poland and Russia over meat exports is looming on the horizon. Following months of negotiations between the...

EU/CANADA : MOVES TO BAN SEAL PRODUCTS LEAD TO ACTION FROM OTTAWA.
April 13, 2007... Avoiding the introduction of a European ban on seal products is high on the agenda of a Canadian government delegation, visiting Brussels on 26 March. According to Canada's Ambassador for Fisheries Conservation Loyola Sullivan, his country...

CEREALS : NEUTRALISING MAIZE INTERVENTION WITHOUT BURYING IT.
April 13, 2007... The proposal for a total abolition of maize intervention, as presented by the European Commission in mid-December 2006, will not be pursued by the German EU Presidency. The Presidency has identified an equally effective alternative, apparently...

AGRICULTURAL STOCKS : NINE NEW MEMBER STATES FINED FOR BUILD-UP OF SURPLUS STOCKS.
April 13, 2007... Nine out of the ten new EU member states (with the exception of Hungary), all built-up surplus stocks of agricultural products prior to their accession, despite the fact that they were required to ensure,aunder the accession Treaties, that...

NUTRILUX-PROVIMI JV APPROVED.
April 13, 2007... On 22 March, the European Commission authorised the acquisition of French firm Provimi by the investment fund Nutrilux of Luxembourg, which is part of the Permira Group. Provimi produces and sells animal foodstuffs and veterinary products. The...

ORGANIC FARMING.
April 13, 2007... In the end, members of the European Parliament did not adopt the report on the future of the regulation on organic crops, in the 29 March plenary session as scheduled. The report has been sent back to the Agriculture Committee. The European...

STATISTICS : REAL AGRICULTURAL INCOME UP IN 2006.(Financial report)
April 13, 2007... EU27 real agricultural income per worker rose by 3.8% in 2006, after decreasing by 7.2% in 2005. This increase results from a reduction in agricultural labour input (-2.6%), and a growth in real agricultural income (+1.1%), says a report...

RUSSIA TO KEEP IMPORTING EU MEAT.
April 13, 2007... Meat trade between Russia and the EU - except for Poland, which is still subject to 16-month-old trade restrictionsa- will not be interrupted on 1 April. Despite earlier threats, Moscow resigned from imposing any ban on EU meat imports as of 1...

SPAIN TAKEN TO COURT.
April 13, 2007... The European Commission referred Spain to the EU Court of Justice on 23 March for a "systematic" ban on importing, from other member states, of food and dietary supplements containing plant extracts, such as guarana, ginseng, espirulina and...

SWINE FEVER IN CROATIA.
April 13, 2007... The European Commission is sending two EU veterinary experts to Croatia on 2 April to assess outbreaks of classical swine fever (CSF) and help with the disease situation on the ground. Classical swine fever is currently widespread in Croatia,...

FISHERIES REGULATION : WWF TAKES EU TO COURT OVER FISHERIES QUOTA.
April 13, 2007... The British branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF UK) announced on 19 March that it is taking the Council of the European Union to the EU Court of Justice for failing to follow its own rules regarding cod fisheries and therefore breaching EU...

EU/POLAND/RUSSIA : RUSSIA PROPOSES EU JOINT CHECK OF POLISH MEAT.
April 30, 2007... The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight (Rossielchoznadzor) has passed on to the European Commission an explanatory letter on the results of the recent veterinary checks in the Polish meat processing facilities...

SPAIN GOES TO COURT OVER FISHING QUOTAS.(Brief article)
April 30, 2007... Spain, on 3 April, decided to refer a case to the EU Court of Justice, calling for the annulment of Council Regulation 41/2007 of 21 December 2006 establishing the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and...

DOHA ROUND : US AMBASSADOR SAYS BREAKTHROUGH HINGES ON MARKET ACCESS.
April 30, 2007... Outlining how he thought the Doha Round of world trade talks could be concluded successfully, the US ambassador to the World Trade Organisation said on 24 April "the biggest missing piece is market access". But rather than directing criticism...

FOODSTUFFS : ADDITIVES AND FLAVOURINGS: EP HANGS ON TO ITS ROLE AS CO-DECIDER.
April 30, 2007... The European Parliament has guaranteed its role as co-decider with the Council of the EU in the new common authorisation procedure for additives, enzymes and flavourings when, on 11 April, the EP's Committee on the Environment, Public Health...

HEALTH : AGRI-BUSINESS INDUSTRY URGED TO DO MORE TO COMBAT OBESITY.
April 30, 2007... The European Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, created by the European Commission, has been operating for two years. Bringing together industry, NGOs and member state representatives, its primary mission is to combat...

CARTELS : BEER BUST LEADS TO 273 MILLION EURO IN FINES.
April 30, 2007... Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes announced on 18 April that three Dutch brewersa- Heineken, Grolsch and Bavariaa- have been fined a total of 273.783 million for taking part in a cartel to fix the price of their beers. The fourth cartel...

BEER CARTEL APPEALS.
April 30, 2007... The three Dutch brewers fined for a cartel in the price of beers on 18 April have immediately announced that they would appeal the 274 million fine imposed.aThe firms, Heineken, Grolsch and Bavaria, were fined 219.3 million, 31.7 million and...

BERNARD VAN GOETHEM/EC.
April 30, 2007... The European Commission has decided to appoint Bernard Van Goethem to the post of director, animal health and welfare, in the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General (DG SANCO, AD14/15). This decision took effect on 4 April.

FISHERIES POLICY : BORG ACTS TO BRIDGE FRANCO-SPANISH ANCHOVY DIVIDE.
April 30, 2007... A further attempt has been made by Commissioner Joe Borg, on 17 April, to push for an agreement between France and Spain over anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay. An experimental fishery' involving 20 Spanish and eight French vessels was...

FISHERIES POLICY : BORG SAYS MINISTERS READY FOR STRONG MEASURES ON ILLEGAL FISHING.
April 30, 2007... Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg is claiming to have received strong backing from EU ministers for his plans to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, following an informal meeting of the Fisheries Council. In a statement...

RESEARCH : COMMISSION ATTEMPTS TO ADD BITE TO ITS BIOTECH STRATEGY.
April 30, 2007... The EU's approach to biotechnologies needs to be better focused on boosting competitiveness, according to the European Commission, in a communication presented on 11 April. The communication, which is a mid-term review of the current...

RESEARCH : COMMISSION TAKES STOCK OF FOOD INDUSTRY NEEDS.(Conference notes)
April 30, 2007... The European Commission plans to try to respond to the research needs, notably technology-related, of the food industry, and particularly of small and medium-sized companies, while taking on board consumers' nutritional and sanitary concerns....

CRITICISM OF BIOTECH STRATEGY.
April 30, 2007... The campaigning organisation Friends of the Earth has reacted strongly to the European Commission's mid-term review of its biotechnology strategy. It claims that the review, adopted on 11 April, amounts to a call for "looser regulation and more...

ALCOHOL : ECON COMMITTEE REJECTS AN INCREASE IN MINIMUM EXCISE DUTY RATES.
April 30, 2007... The European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) recently reinforced the Council's blocking of the European Commission's proposal intended to increase the minimum excise duty rates on alcohol and alcoholic beverages...

BIOTECHNOLOGY : EU OFTEN OUTPACED BY US, SAYS REPORT, DESPITE BUSINESS POTENTIAL.(European Union)
April 30, 2007... The potential for biotechnology to contribute to the EU's economic and environmental goals is highlighted by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, in a new report examining this developing area of science. The report claims that...

EUROPEAN YOUNG FARMER'S DAY.
April 30, 2007... Young farmers from across the European Union gathered in Brussels on 17 April for the first European Young Farmers' Day. Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture, spoke at both the beginning and the end of the event, which was being...

EU/CHINA : EU SETS PRICE FLOOR ON FROZEN STRAWBERRIES FROM CHINA.
April 30, 2007... To protect the interests of European producers without sealing off the market to Beijing and European importers, the EU has decided on a compromise solution in the anti-dumping case concerning frozen strawberries from China. Following the...

FARM AIDS : EU TO RECOVER 285 MN EURO IN UNDULY PAID FARM SUBSIDIES.
April 30, 2007... Fourteen EU member states will be obliged to pay back into the EU budget a total of 285.3 million in unduly received farm payments because of inadequate control procedures or non-compliance with EU rules on agricultural expenditure. This is...

MAIZE : FUTURE OF THE MAIZE INTERVENTION STILL UNCERTAIN.
April 30, 2007... EU member states are still divided over the proposal to end public intervention for maize. On 27 April, the farming experts of the EU27 (Special Committee on Agriculture) were not able to reach a compromise on this dossier that the German...

GM SUGAR BEET.(genetically modified)(Brief article)
April 30, 2007... The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health on 19 April returned no definitive opinion either for or against a proposal to authorise a genetically modified sugar beet, H7-1. As a result, the European Commission must now transmit...

EU/RUSSIA : MEAT TALKS END IN DEADLOCK.
April 30, 2007... EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou and Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev have failed to break a stalemate over the 16-month Russian ban on Polish meat and agricultural products, an issue which continues to block the launch of...

MAIZE : MEPS DEFEND THE INTERVENTION ON MAIZE.(Member of the European Parliament)
April 30, 2007... The European Parliament's Agriculture Committee, by adopting a report by Bela Glattfelder (EPP-ED, Hungary) on 12 April, showed its opposition to plans for scrapping the Community intervention system for the maize market as of 2007. MEPs are...

MINISTERIAL MEETING ON RURAL REGIONS.
April 30, 2007... During the traditional informal meeting of the EU agriculture ministers, organised by the German EU Presidency in Mainz from 20 to 22 May, discussions will be held on the subject Protecting the basis of life in the regions of Europe - for...

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES : MINISTERS CAUTIOUSLY SUPPORT DECOUPLING OF PROCESSING AID.
April 30, 2007... During a policy debate on fruit and vegetables on 17 April, thea EU Agriculture Councilanoted the support of a large majority of delegations for the decoupling of the processing aid, as proposed by the European Commission. However, several...

FISHERIES COUNCIL : MINISTERS FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT ON EELS.
April 30, 2007... Ministers have failed to reach agreement on recovery measures for European eel stocks, at the Fisheries Council on 16 April. Both France and Spain proved unable to accept a final compromise proposal put on the table by the German EU...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : MINISTERS HOLD PRELIMINARYDEBATE ON DIRECT AID.
April 30, 2007... EU agriculture ministers, in Council on 16 April, briefly debated the European Commission's report on the conditionality of direct aid. They took note of the Commission's commitment to present a draft of measures identified to the Council in...

EU/IVORY COAST : NEW FISHERIES PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT INITIALLED.
April 30, 2007... The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, and the Ivory Coast initialled on 5 April a new fisheries partnership agreement, which will cover a renewable six-year period and will replace the current framework agreement in place since 1990,...

RESEARCH : NEW SOLUTIONS EXPECTED TO CUT DOWN ON ANIMAL TESTING.
April 30, 2007... Several alternatives to traditional animal testing methods are expected to be validated by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre on 27 April. The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, a body within the JRC,...

FISHERIES : PROCEDURES LAID OUT FOR ANCHOVY FISHING IN THE BAY OF BISCAY.
April 30, 2007... As announced in a letter dated 17 April from Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg to France and Spain on the conditions governing the experimental fishery on anchovy in the Bay of Biscay (see Europolitics 3289), the European...

BIOTECHNOLOGY : PROTECTING SEED VARIETIES THREATENED BY GENETIC EROSION.(Brief article)
April 30, 2007... A European Commission proposal aimed at protecting seed varieties of agricultural crops which may be threatened by genetic erosion was backed by the Standing Committee on Seeds and Propagating Material for Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry...

ANIMAL WELFARE : SERIOUS DOUBTS OVER THE EFFICIENCY OF MEASURES TO COMBAT BLUETONGUE.
April 30, 2007... A scientific report of the European Food SafetyaAuthority (EFSA) presents counter-arguments to the expensive precautionary measures imposed lastayear toacombat the spread of the catarrhal fever virus. According to this study, published on 10...

SPAIN GOES TO COURT OVER FISHING QUOTAS.(Brief article)
April 30, 2007... Spain decided to refer a case to the EU Court of Justice, calling for the annulment of Council Regulation 41/2007 of 21 December 2006 establishing the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish...

DOHA ROUND : TRADE COMMISSIONER VOICES ALARM.(Brief article)
April 30, 2007... As attempts to reboot the Doha multilateral round fail to produce concrete results, Peter Mandelson expressed alarm over the situation at a press conference on 18 April in Brussels. The EU trade commissioner said that if an agreement has not...

EU/INDIA : WTO PANEL ON WINE AND SPIRIT DUTIES POSTPONED.
April 30, 2007... India, on 11 April, rejected a demand for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to set up a special panel to rule on the complaint submitted by the EU to the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body regarding the prohibitively high duties imposed by India on...