Europe Agri articles from January 2009

Europe Agri archives from January 2009

EU/US/WTO : BUSH ADMINISTRATION FIRES PARTING SHOTS AT EU.
January 30, 2009... In a last-minute move immediately before the change of administration, the US government fired two parting shots at the European Union over trade issues, imposing duties on US imports of Roquefort and lodging a complaint against the EU import...

CALL FOR MORE ETHICS IN AGRI POLICIES.
January 30, 2009... The European Group on Ethics (EGE), created in 2001, called, on 21 January, for the European Commission to further develop an ethical approach in the development of agricultural policies. In the opinion presented toaMariann Fischer Boel,...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : CAP REFORM AND FOOD QUALITY: CZECH PRIORITIES.
January 30, 2009... Continuing discussions on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, along with the quality of agricultural and food products, will be one of the agricultural priorities of the Czech Presidency of the EU Council. In the Agriculture Council,...

GMO : COMMISSION GOES ON OFFENSIVE TO RELAUNCH GMOS.
January 30, 2009... After months of equivocation, the European Commission has decided to relaunch its offensive in support of GMOs. On 21 January, the commissioners approved a set of proposals that aim to force open the gates of European countries opposed to the...

COMMISSION TO DECIDE ON TWO GMOS.
January 30, 2009... The European Commission will have to decide whether or not to authorise the marketing in the EU of two GMOs on which the Agriculture Council failed to reach a qualified majority, on 19 January. The two are oilseed rape T45, which was marketed...

ANIMAL HEALTH : COMMISSION TO TIGHTEN ANIMAL WELLBEING RULES.(Brief article)
January 30, 2009... EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou was keen to confirm, in the margins of a conference on animal wellbeing, on 20 January, her intention to present, during next month, a detailed impact study on the rules for transporting animals. This...

TIMBER TRADE : DISPROPORTIONATE BURDENS MUST BE AVOIDED, SAY MINISTERS.(Brief article)
January 30, 2009... Certain provisions must be clarified and, above all, imposing a "disproportionate" administrative burden and costs on operators must be avoided, believe agriculture ministers, who debated, on 19 January in Brussels, the proposal for a...

SEAL PRODUCTS : ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE OPTS FOR TOTAL BAN.
January 30, 2009... As expected, the European Parliament's Environment Committee opted, on 22 January, for the hard line by voting - by 43 votes in favour and one abstention - in favour of a total ban on the import into the European Union of products derived from...

MILK : EU RESUMES EXPORT SUBSIDIES FOR DAIRY.
January 30, 2009... The European Commission has resumed its use of export subsidies, granting the first refunds on 22 January, to encourage sales of butter, cheese and skimmed milk to third countries. Exports of these products have declined in the last few...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : FINAL ADOPTION OF CAP HEALTH CHECK.
January 30, 2009... The Union's agriculture ministers officially adopted, on 19 January in Brussels, without debate and by qualified majority, the four regulations implementing the decisions adopted on 20 November 2008 under the Common Agricultural Policy health...

AGRIFOODS : FISCHER BOEL VOICES CONCERNS OVER CLONING.
January 30, 2009... While some experts believe that the first food products derived from clones could reach the Community market in a few months' time, originating from Japan or the United States, the EU's Commissioner for Agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel, openly...

STATE AID : FRENCH AND PORTUGUESE AID UNDER SCRUTINY.
January 30, 2009... The European Commission, on 28 January, decided that the so-called contingency plans' paid by France in the fruit and vegetable sector - more than 330 million - are incompatible with EU legislation. The money will therefore have to be paid...

ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN : HALF A BILLION EURO TO TACKLE NEW AGRICULTURAL CHALLENGES.
January 30, 2009... Of the 5 billion to be taken from unused appropriations under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2008 and 2009 for the EU economic recovery plan, the European Commission has proposed that 500 million be allocated to projects related to the...

ENERGY : INDUSTRY SEEKS COUNTERVAILING MEASURES AGAINST US BIODIESEL.
January 30, 2009... The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) called once again for countervailing measures against subsidised US B99 biodiesel. The call came as the EU's anti-dumping committeeamet to discuss countervailing measures against heavily subsidised and...

FISHERIES : MEPS CALL FOR WHALING MORATORIUM WITHOUT EXCEPTIONS.
January 30, 2009... Members of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee have appealed to the European Union to work towards a "universal agreement" on whaling. Adopting the same position as rapporteur Elspeth Attwooll (ALDE, UK), MEPs are calling not only for...

EU/US : NO END IN SIGHT TO BEEF HORMONE DISPUTE.
January 30, 2009... The Bush administration's parting shot to the EU on trade policy - imposing new import duties in retaliation for Europe's maintenance of the ban on hormone-treated US beef - has left a bitter aftertaste between the transatlantic partners just...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : NO EU AID FOR PIG FARMERS.
January 30, 2009... After an upturn in 2008, the European pork market is back to walking a tightrope. French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier therefore called for opening of the private storage aid scheme, at the Agriculture Council on 19 January in Brussels....

WINE INDUSTRY : ROSE PRODUCERS WANT BAN ON BLENDING WHITE AND READ WINE TO STAY.
January 30, 2009... The European Commission intends to propose to member state experts, on 26 January, during a meeting of the EU's Management Committee, to remove the ban on the practice of mixing red and white wine to make roses. French, Italian and Spanish...

SALMONELLA CASES DOWN.
January 30, 2009... Campylobacter infections still top the list of zoonotic diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, but the number of salmonella poisoning cases fell for the fourth year in a row. The number of cases of listeriosis remained...