Europe Agri articles from August 2006

Europe Agri archives from August 2006

ANOTHER STEP FOR MOROCCO FISHERIES AGREEMENT.
August 29, 2006... A common declaration with Morocco was adopted by the EU Council of Ministers on 14 July, in order to confirm the arrangements by which the new Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the two will come into force. The declaration stipulates...

FOOD SAFETY : ANTI-SALMONELLA REGULATIONS ADOPTED.
August 29, 2006... Two regulations to reduce the incidence of Salmonella in poultry and eggs were adopted by the European Commission on 1 August. One sets targets for reducing Salmonella in laying hens; the other regulates methods used to control Salmonella in...

ENVIRONMENT : COMMISSION ADOPTS STRATEGY ON SUSTAINABLE USE OF PESTICIDES.
August 29, 2006... Reducing the dangers and risks linked to the use of pesticides, enhancing controls on their use and distribution and promoting substitution of the most dangerous substances with safer alternatives are the principal objectives of the Thematic...

FISHERIES POLICY : COMMISSION CALLS FOR TOUGHER TREATMENT OF FISHERIES OFFENDERS.
August 29, 2006... Member states are not sufficiently punishing serious infringements of the Common Fisheries Policy, according to the European Commission, which published its annual report on the subject on 14 July. The average fine imposed in 2004, the year...

WINE REFORMS : COMMISSION DEFENDS VOLUNTARY GRUBBING IN FRONT OF MEPS.
August 29, 2006... The European Commission took the opportunity of a hearing held by the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on 12 July to defend its proposed reform of the common market organisation for wine. "We need to stop...

EDITORIAL ADVERTISEMENT : COMMISSIONER TO WORK HAND IN HAND WITH FISHING JOINT VENTURES.(Editorial)
August 29, 2006... A meeting between European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Joe Borg, and the Cluster of Fishing Companies in Third Countries (CEPPT), in Brussels on 7 July, led to discussions described as "very hopeful" by the organisation's...

FOODS : COMMISSION LOOKING TO LEGISLATE ON ENZYMES.
August 29, 2006... Enzymes are not at present covered by any EU legislation. Meanwhile, "member states' legislation on food enzymes differs significantly, which can lead to problems for the internal market and an unclear situation for the EU consumer", says the...

BALTIC SEA : COMMISSION PROPOSES PLAN TO REBUILD BALTIC COD STOCKS.
August 29, 2006... The European Commission adopted on 24 July a proposal on a multi-annual plan for the two cod stocks in the Baltic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks. There are two types of cod stocks in the Baltic Sea, the Eastern and the Western,...

COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY : COMMISSION TO RECOVER 162 MILLION EURO OF MISPENT FARM FUNDS.
August 29, 2006... A total of 161.9 million worth of EU funds unduly spent by member states in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is to be claimed back by Brussels. Under the terms of a Decision adopted by the European Commission on 27 July on...

PLANT HEALTH : COUNCIL RETURNS SIX AUTHORISATION REQUESTS TO THE COMMISSION.(Brief article)
August 29, 2006... The EU Council, meeting on 26 July as the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the member states (Coreper), rejected (by qualified majority) two of the eight authorisation proposals tabled by the European Commission for the marketing of...

EMERGENCY WINE DISTILLATION IN PORTUGAL.
August 29, 2006... The European Commission's Wine Management Committee has approved a Commission proposal for emergency distillation of wine in Portugal. A maximum of 200,000 hectolitres of table wine could be offered to this distillation. The set price for the...

EU/MAURITANIA : EU AND MAURITANIA RENEW AMBITIOUS FISHERIES AGREEMENT.
August 29, 2006... The European Union and Mauritania signed a new Fisheries Partnership Agreement on 22 July, which will enter into force on 1 August for six years. It will replace a previous agreement that ran from 2001 to 2006. This is the most significant...

EU/WTO : EU IN SHOCK AFTER DOHA ROUND FAILURE.
August 29, 2006... The day after the multilateral negotiations of the Doha Round were suspended, the EU, still in shock, has blamed the United States and is getting ready to adjust its trade strategy so as to conquer the markets in a different way. Peter...

EU MOROCCO FISHERIES AGREEMENT SIGNED.
August 29, 2006... Representatives of the Kingdom of Morocco and the EU met in Brussels on 26 July to sign a new Fisheries Partnership Agreement. While the EU has already completed its ratification of the FPA, scheduled to run until 2010, this step still needs to...

BUDGET : EUROPEAN FISHERIES FUND READY IN TIME FOR 2007.
August 29, 2006... Final adoption of the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) was secured in the Council of Ministers on 27 July via written procedure. Political agreement among member states on the EFF, which will govern financial support to the fishing industry...

EU/US : EU TAKES ACTION TO STOP UNAUTHORISED GM RICE IMPORTS FROM THE US.
August 29, 2006... Imports of long grain rice from the US will now have to be certified as free from GMO LL Rice 601 following a decision adopted by the Commission on 23 August. The move follows the US's announcement that this unauthorised genetically modified...

FISHERIES POLICY : EXEMPTIONS FOR REMOTE REGIONS MAY BE EXTENDED.
August 29, 2006... Fishing fleets in the Azores and Madeira, Canary Islands and French departments of Guyana and Reunion should continue to benefit from exemptions to EU rules, the European Commission has said. On 1 August, it proposed extending an existing...

EXTENSION FOR GUINEA-BISSAU FISHING AGREEMENT.
August 29, 2006... The existing fisheries agreement between the European Union and Guinea-Bissau should be extended for another year, the Council of Ministers provisionally agreed on 11 July, in order to provide time for the negotiation of new arrangements. The...

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS : FINLAND DEFINES FARMING PRIORITIES.
August 29, 2006... Speaking to MEPs in the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the European Parliament on 13 July and then again before his counterparts in the Agricultural Council on 18 July, Juha Korkeaoja, the Finnish Minister of Agriculture and...

ANCHOVY : FRENCH SEEK TO HIGHLIGHT THE IMPACT OF ANCHOVY BAN.
August 29, 2006... French representatives seized the opportunity, during a meeting of the Farm and Fisheries Council on 18 July, to make plain their opposition to a resumed ban on anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay. The decision to close the fishery for the...

CROPS : HEAT WAVES AND DROUGHT REDUCE CROP YIELDS.
August 29, 2006... An analysis published by the European Commission in mid-August shows that the particularly hot weather in July has significantly affected this year's EU crop yields. Compared to the previous analysis performed at the end of June, the European...

INCREASED FISH QUOTAS FOR FAROES.(Brief article)
August 29, 2006... Preferential trade concessions for the Faroe Islands regarding fisheries are set to increase, following the Council's decision, on 11 July, to amend the existing agreement, following a request from the Faroes' government. Quotas for shrimp,...

EU/KIRIBATI : KIRIBATI ANOTHER PIECE IN THE PUZZLE FOR PACIFIC TUNA FISHING.
August 29, 2006... The Pacific island nation of Kiribati has become the latest country to initial a new Fisheries Partnership Agreement with the EU, as the expiry date of the current arrangements approaches. As under the existing terms, the new agreement will...

FOOD SAFETY : LABELLING ON THE FRONT AND BACK OF PRODUCTS?
August 29, 2006... Industry and consumer associations are rivalling one another with strategies to improve the labelling of food products. Their efforts come with the European Commission having officially wound up its stakeholder consultation on 16 June in...

AGRI-FOOD : MEAT PRODUCTS MERGER CLEARED.
August 29, 2006... The proposed acquisition of Dutch firm Sara Lee Foods Europe ("SL") by a joint venture created by the United States-based companies Smithfield Foods Inc. and Oaktree Capital Management LLC has got the all clear from the European Commission, it...

VETERINARY POLICY : MEMBER STATES BACKaPRECAUTIONARY MEASURES AGAINST BLUETONGUE.(Brief article)
August 29, 2006... EU membert state veterinary experts in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health backed a European Commission Decision on protection measures to be taken against bluetongue on 21 August. The Decision was drawn up in response...

FISHERIES : MINISTERS TO HAVE A BUSY AGENDA AFTER SUMMER BREAK.
August 29, 2006... The Finnish Presidency of the EU presented its planned Council work programme for fisheries on 18 July, with officials bracing themselves for a particularly busy period ahead. Fisheries items are scheduled to be on the Council's agenda in...

EU/WTO : MIXED REACTIONS TO FAILURE OF DOHA ROUND.
August 29, 2006... Three days after the Doha Round trade negotiations were "suspended until further notice", mixed reactions are being heard throughout Europe and the globe, revealing the divisions that the dossier on world trade has triggered. While...

GENETIC ENGINEERING : NEW AUTHORISATION REQUEST FOR TRANSGENIC RAPE REFERRED TO COUNCIL.
August 29, 2006... The regulatory committee on the deliberate release of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) having failed to agree on a marketing request for yet another variety of transgenic rapeseed, the European Commission had to refer the file to the...

PLANT HEALTH : NEW RULES ON PLANT HEALTH PRODUCTS.
August 29, 2006... In proposing to review rules on the marketing of plant health products, the European Commission is keen to step up a gear in combating the excessive use of substances harmful to the environment and human health. Under the terms of the proposal...

SUBSIDIES : OXFAM POINTS AT EU-US SUBSIDIES FOR CURRENT WTO CRISIS.
August 29, 2006... On the eve of the G8 Summit in St Petersburg, Russia, on 15-17 July, Oxfam International published on 11 July a report on EU-US agricultural subsidies, accusing the latter of contributing to the current World Trade Organisation (WTO) crisis....

FARM COUNCIL : PRODUCER COUNTRIES SLAM RADICAL WINE REFORM PROPOSALS.
August 29, 2006... EU wine producing countries seized on the Agriculture Council on 18 July to air their criticism of the importance granted by Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel to massive grubbing up of vineyards [digging up the roots of vines] in...

CAP : REFLECTION OVER THE FUTURE OF THE CAP.(Common Agricultural Policy)
August 29, 2006... The restrictions on Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) spending will again be on the agenda of the review of the EU's finances in 2008-2009 as decided by the Heads of State during the December 2005 European Summit. Topics already discussed in the...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : UNCERTAINTY OVER ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT.
August 29, 2006... EU Agriculture Ministers, during the Agriculture Council in Brussels on 18 July, criticised the European Commission's desire to impose strict limitations on the margins for manoeuvre accorded to member states in the use of funding from the...

EU/MAURITANIA : URGENT TIMES FOR FISHERIES NEGOTIATIONS.
August 29, 2006... The Council will need to adopt a new Fisheries Partnership Agreement with Mauritania under a special fast-track procedure, Commissioner for Fisheries Joe Borg explained to Ministers on 18 July, if it is to successfully come into force in time...

US BLAMED FOR DOHA FAILURE.(Brief article)
August 29, 2006... "We have missed the last exit on the motorway of negotiations", said EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, not mincing his words, after yet another failure in Geneva on 24 July during the emergency meeting of the G6, bringing together the key...

FEED : USE OF SET-ASIDE LAND FOR ANIMAL FEED.
August 29, 2006... After agreeing to authorise farmers affected by severe drought to use set-aside land for animal feed purposes in nine member states at the end of July, the European Commission has responded positively on 10 August to similar demands from five...