Europe Agri articles from March 2006

Europe Agri archives from March 2006

BIRD FLU AID TO TURKEY.(financing agreement to be concluded by the Commission and the Turkish government)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... Turkey is to receive euro 8.35 million to help limit the spread of avian flu in poultry and minimise the threat to people, the European Commission announced on February 22. The programme, in the form of EU pre-accession financial assistance, is...

AVIAN INLUENZA : BIRD FLU HITS SWEDEN AS FRANCE AND ITALY PROMISE BREEDERS HELP.(risk factors of avian influenza)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... The two confirmed cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5 in dead ducks in Sweden brings the number of EU countries affected by the virus to nine. The ducks were tested near Oskarshamn in Sweden but samples will be sent to the...

BEEF : BRITISH BEEF BACK ON THE MENU.(rules for beef)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... As widely expected, the European Commission's proposal to lift the embargo in place since 1996 on UK exports of live cattle, beef and beef products owing to BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) was approved unanimously on 8 March by the EU's...

AVIAN INFLUENZA : COMMISSION HOLDS BACK FROM RELEASING AID FOR POULTRY FARMERS.(risk factors of avian influenza)
March 16, 2006... aConfirmation that the H5 bird flu virus was indeed responsible for the death of poultry on a farm in France's Ain department, and the subsequent slaughter of 11,000 turkeys, marks a worrying turn in the avian influenza crisis that has hit...

GM COEXISTENCE : COMMISSION NOT PLANNING TO LEGISLATE ON GM COEXISTENCE YET.(rules for genetically-modified crops )
March 16, 2006... The European Commission indicates in a report adopted on 10 March that 'there is at present no justification for EU measures' on the coexistence of genetically-modified (GM) crops and conventional or organic crops. Originally expected at...

EGGS : EGG MARKETING STANDARDS TO BE MADE SIMPLER.(rules of egg)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... The European Commission put forward a proposal on 28 February with the aim of simplifying a Council Regulation on egg marketing standards which dates back to 1990. The Regulation in question has been modified six times since it was first...

PRODUCTION : EU MEMBER STATES AGREE TO ONE-YEAR CUT IN SUGAR PRODUCTION.(production management of sugar industry)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... European Union governments, on 3 March, agreed on a Commission proposal for a one-year cut of 2.5 million tonnes (13.6 percent) in sugar, isoglucose and inulin syrup production. The decision follows the formal adoption on 20 February of a...

HEALTH COUNCIL : EU MINISTERS URGE COMBINED OFFENSIVE AGAINST BIRD FLU.(European Union)
March 16, 2006... a"Coordinated, open and transparent" communication is needed to avoid panic: this was the key conclusion to emerge from the extraordinary informal meeting of Health Ministers from the European Union, Turkey and Balkan states affected by avian...

WINE : EUROPEAN WINE-PRODUCING REGIONS GEAR UP FOR REFORM.(management of wine)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... The Assembly of Wine-Producing European Regions (AREV) will submit its ideas in April to the European Commission on reform of the common organisation of the market (CMO) in wine. It is delighted at the clarification sector representatives were...

POULTRY : EXPERTS LOOK AT WAYS OF SUPPORTING BELEAGUERED POULTRY INDUSTRY.(management of poultry industry)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... When they met in Brussels on 8 March, national experts sitting on the Eggs & Poultry Management Committee adiscussed new ways in which the EU can provide support for the European poultry industry which has been badly hit by the avian flu...

AVIAN INFLUENZA : FIRST CASE OF H5 AVIAN INFLUENZA VIRUS FOUND IN POLAND.(control of avian influenza)
March 16, 2006... The avian influenza epidemic is continuing to wing its way across Europe, following confirmation on 5 March of the first case of the highly pathogenic H5 strain of the virus in Poland, in a swan found dead north-west of the Polish capital...

MAD COW : FIRST CASE OF MAD COW DISEASE IN SWEDEN.(prevention of bovine spongiform encephalopathy)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... The Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) in Weybridge, United Kingdom, confirmed on 3 March that Sweden is the latest country to be hit by the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) virus. The European Commission is therefore reconsidering...

FOOD SECTOR MERGER.(acquisitions)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... The European Commission announced on 9 March that it has granted clearance under the EU Merger Regulation to the acquisition of sole control of the European seafood business of HJ Heinz Company of the US by Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking...

CFP RULES : FRANCE CHALLENGES EURO 57 MILLION FINE FOR FLOUTING CFP RULES.(rules for fisheries )
March 16, 2006... Paris has not been slow to respond. Ordered to pay a 57 million penalty for failing to comply with a 12 July 2005 ruling of the Court of Justice in a fisheries case, the French government has announced that it will appeal to the ECJ to demand...

CFP RULES : FRANCE FINED ANOTHER EURO 57 MILLION FOR FLOUTING CFP RULES.(rules of Common Fisheries Policy)
March 16, 2006... More than seven months after being condemned again and fined by the European Court of Justice for serious failings in meeting its EU obligations to police fishing activities, France has still not entirely complied with the Court's judgment....

LIVESTOCK : LIVESTOCK BREEDING INDUSTRY LAUNCHES CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE.(production management )(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... A code of good practice developed by the livestock breeding industry, designed to ensure maximum openness and clarity about the practices used in farm animal rearing and reproduction was unveiled on 2 March at the Salon d'Agriculture in Paris....

SOLIDARITY FUND : MEPS DIVIDED OVER USE OF FUND DURING MAJOR HEALTH CRISES.(funding rescue services)
March 16, 2006... Could local help be at hand in the form of the EU's Solidarity Fund in the event of a flu pandemic? That was one of the key questions raised by MEPs during a debate staged on 6 March in Brussels by the European Parliament's Regional Development...

EU MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES : MEPS TURN TO BUDGET BLACKMAIL IN BID FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY.(Agricultural Policy)
March 16, 2006... The European Parliament has decided to block certain administrative appropriations in an effort to force the European Commission and administrations in the member states to show greater transparency on farmaspending Common Agricultural Policy....

INDUSTRY : OPTIONS FOR RESTORING BELEAGUERED FISHERIES SECTOR TO PROFITABILITY.(finance for fisheries)
March 16, 2006... "There is no miracle solution for overcoming the difficulties currently being experienced by the fisheries sector. However, it is possible to restore the sector to profitability in the short term (...)", the Commission writes in a Communication...

MAIZE : PIONEER 1507 MAIZE AUTHORISED FOR USE IN FOOD.(rules for genetically-modified crops)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... The European Commission authorised on 3 March the use of another genetically-modified (GM) variety of maize for use in food. Theamarketing authorisation means that the Pioneer 1507 variety can be sold in the EU as food, food ingredients or...

POULTRY EXPORT REFUNDS UP.(Eggs and Poultry Management Committee meeting)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... Aafurther increase in poultry export refunds was approved at the Eggs and Poultry Management Committee meeting on 8 March. Rates will go up from 30 to 40/100 kg for whole frozen chickens and from 10 to 20/100 kg for cut meat. Regarding...

PREVENTING ACCIDENTS TO EU FARMERS.(working in agriculture of the risks)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... The European Agency for Health and Safety at Work has put online a new web section to help inform people working in agriculture of the risks they run during their work and to promote safe working practices. Despite the fall in the number of...

AVIAN INFLUENZA : PREVENTIVE VACCINATION AUTHORISED IN FRANCE AND THE NETHERLANDS.(vaccination campaigns)
March 16, 2006... The European Commission authorised France and the Netherlands on 22 February to carry out targeted preventive vaccination campaigns on poultry as a precautionary measure against avian influenza. These authorisations only concern specific birds...

AVIAN INFLUENZA : RESTRICTIONS TIGHTENED.(management of poultry industry)
March 16, 2006... The latest development in the avian influenza epidemic is the detection of a cat with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus on the German island of Ruegen. The infection "probably occurred due to its exposure to infected wild birds", the EU's...

SUGAR MILLS TO CLOSE.(several more sugar mills in Europe are to close)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... A French centre for studies on sugar mills has revealed in its latest summary report that several more sugar mills in Europe are to close. The Danish group Danisco is to close three factories at the end of the 2006/2007 year: one in Denmark,...

SWINE FEVER IN GERMANY.(causes of swine fever )(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... The German authorities announced on 3 March that two outbreaks of classical swine fever have been confirmed at two pig farms in North-Rhine Westphalia. The disease is known to occur in wild boar in the same state, albeit in a different area,...

TACKLING ILLEGAL FISHING.( undeclared and unregulated fishing)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... A study group on high-sea fisheries set up in 2003 on the initiative of the OECD presented a report on illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing on Friday 3 March in Paris. Chaired by the United Kingdom and financed by the European Union, the...

AGENDA.(Agriculture and Fisheries Council)(Calendar)
March 24, 2006... aCOUNCIL OF MINISTERS Agriculture and Fisheries Councila 25 April Luxembourga Draft agenda: - Proposal to amend the rice CMO Regulation - Proposal to amend Council Regulation laying down general rules on the definition,...

ENVIRONMENT : AUSTRIA GETS NITRATES DIRECTIVE DEROGATION FOR MUCK-SPREADING.(protection of waters against pollution)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... Nearly 2,000 Austrian dairy producers, representing 3% of the country's cattle farmers and 4% of the country's livestock breeders will be able to manage on their farms all the manure theiracattle produce, even if the corresponding amount of...

EU/AFRICA : AVIAN FLU TAKES FLIGHT IN AFRICA, EU PROMISES FUNDING.(International Centre for Agricultural Research in Developing Countries )
March 24, 2006... While Europe is busy pulling out all the stops in the fight against avian flu using modern technology (efficient laboratories and veterinary services, monitoring networks and well informed breeders), Africa is having to stave off the threat...

LAST MINUTE : AVIAN INFLUENZA.(outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza )(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... Following the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza on a game farm in Sweden, the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health agreeda to add a break-down of all the Swedish localities covered by the protection, surveillance...

EU/UN : BIOSAFETY CONFERENCE REACHESaGMO AGREEMENT.(Genetically Modified Organisms)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... Agricultural products containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) will from now on require adequate labeling before any international transfer can take place. An agreement to this effect signed on 17 March as part of theathird Conference...

BIRD FLU : BIRD FLU CONTINUES RELENTLESS SPREAD.(disease continued to spread)
March 24, 2006... As EU Agriculture Ministers wracked their brains, during the Farm Council in Brussels on 20 March, on how to best react to the avian flu epidemic, the disease continued to spread, not only in Asia and Africa, but also in North Europe. ...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : CAP MEMORANDUM TO BE DISCUSSED IN SEPTEMBER.(Common Agricultural Policy)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... Meeting in Council in Brussels on 20 March, the EU's Agriculture Ministers reserved a warm welcome for a memorandum submitted by twelve member states suggesting ways of further improving the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), according...

COCA-COLA BID FORaFRESH & CO CLEARED.(Fresh and Co)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The European Commission granted clearance on 10 March to the acquisition of joint control of Fresh & Co. Fabrika Za Peradu Vo a D.O.O. (Fresh & Co) of Serbia by The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) of the United States and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling...

EU/FAO : COOPERATION ON ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION FOR FISHERIES.(Agriculture Organization of the United Nations )
March 24, 2006... Working to bring information on fisheries closer to the people who really need it was one of the aims of a meeting at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome from 20 to 22 March involving 65 experts in...

VITAMINE CARTEL : EU COURT CUTS BASF AND DAIICHI'S VITAMIN CARTEL FINES.(German chemicals giant BASF was fined a total of 296.16 million)
March 24, 2006... Vitamin manufacturers BASF and Daiichi Pharmaceutical on 15 March won a reduction on fines imposed by the European Commission following cartel action in November 2001 - but the total fine in the vitamin case remains the largest ever levied in...

FARM COUNCIL : EU OPENS ITS TRADITIONAL FOOD REGISTER TO NON-EU COUNTRIES.(European Union)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... Under pressure from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), EU Agriculture Ministers waved through a reform of the EU system of protected geographical indications at their Council session on 20 March which will make it easier for countries outside...

WATER : EU RECALLS THAT ACCESS TO WATER IS A FUNDMANETAL HUMAN RIGHT.(European Union)
March 24, 2006... "Water belongs to all of humanity", the European Parliament recalls in a motion adopted on 15 March, adding that access to water is therefore a fundamental human right. Responding to the opening in Mexico of the 4th World Water Forum,...

WETLANDS : EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY AND RAMSAR CONVENTION JOIN FORCES.(joint programme on management of wetlands and water resources)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The Secretariat of the Convention on the protection of wetlands (Ramsar Convention) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) are to develop a joint programme on management of wetlands and water resources. The memorandum of cooperation signed...

ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL : EUROPEAN FOOD SAFETY AGENCY UNDER FIRE OVER GM AUTHORISATIONS.(Genetically modified)
March 24, 2006... Improving risk assessment procedures in respect of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), transparency of decision-making and challenges to committee procedure dominated discussions among EU Environment Ministers on 9 March in Brussels....

CIVIL PROTECTION : EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BACKS RAPID RESPONSE INSTRUMENT.
March 24, 2006... The European Commission can count on the European Parliament's support for its plans to introduce a rapid response and preparedness instrument for major emergencies over the period 2007-2013, after the plenary session voted through the report...

EU/UNITED STATES : EUROPEANS AND AMERICANS SIGN UP TO FIRST PHASE OF WINE PACT.(European Union)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The European Union and the United Statesasigned on 10 March the first phase of a bilateral wine agreement which they hope will facilitate transatlantic trade and bring major benefits for EU wine-makers. The pact was approved by EU Agriculture...

FOOD SECTOR MERGER.(European Union merger regulation)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The European Commission announced on 9 March that it has granted clearance under the EU Merger Regulation to the acquisition of sole control of the European seafood business of HJ Heinz Company of the US by Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking...

EU/WTO : FRANCE KEEPS UP THE PRESSURE ON DOHA ROUND.(conferences of agricultural industry)
March 24, 2006... France is keeping up the pressure on European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson in the Doha Round of trade liberalisation negotiations. At the External Relations Council on 20 March in Brussels, French Foreign Affairs Minister Philippe...

COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY : FRANCE WANTS TO TAKE CONTROL AGAIN.
March 24, 2006... Backed by a dozen other member states, France presented a memorandum on "the implementation and future of the reformed CAP" to the Farm Council in Brussels on 20 March. The paper calls for additional "indispensable" measures to be adopted in...

COMMON ORGANISATION : GLOOMY REVIEW PRIOR TO REFORM OF WINE CMO.(common agricultural policy)
March 24, 2006... Strategic manoeuvring has begun in Brussels on reform of the common organisation of the market in wine, one of the most complex areas of the common agricultural policy (CAP). Aware of the enormous challenges facing wine producers in the EU,...

GM FOOD IN CYPRUS.(genetically-modified food)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The European Commission decided on 15 March that the notification in September 2005 by the government of Cyprus of draft legislation requiring genetically-modified (GM) food products to be displayed separately from non-GM food in supermarkets...

SHEEP : INQUIRY INTO THREE UNUSUAL CASES OF TSE.(European Food Safety Authority)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... An expert panel from the Community Reference Laboratory in Weybridge has informed the European Commission that test results from the brains of two sheep from France and one from Cyprus show an unusual molecular profile that warrants further...

BIODIVERSITY : MANDATE FOR WORLD CONFERENCE ON BIODIVERSITY.(protecting biodiversity)
March 24, 2006... Action is urgently needed if the target to cut loss of biodiversity by half by 2010 is to be met, EU Environment Ministers insisted on 9 March, waving through a negotiating mandate for the eighth Conference of Parties to the United Nations...

SOLIDARITY FUND : MEPS REMAIN VAGUE ON ISSUE OF HEALTH CRISES.(Regional Development Committee)
March 24, 2006... The EU's Solidarity Fund may finally intervene in the event of "major health crises" in the member states. MEPs on the European Parliament's Regional Development Committee endorsed this possibility in adopting the report by Rolf Berend (EPP-ED,...

BIRD FLU : MINISTERS REPEAT CALL FOR EU AID TO POULTRY INDUSTRY.(Ministers of Agriculture)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... aAvian influenza and the drop in poultry consumption were high on the agenda when EU Ministers of Agriculture met in Brussels on 20 March. European Commissioner for Health, Markos Kyprianou, gave an update concerning the latest outbreaks of...

QUALITY PRODUCTS : NEW CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE EUROPEAN QUALITY PRODUCE.(rules on promotion and information measures)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... Eight programmes promoting European farm produce in non-EU countries are to be co-financed by the EU to the tune of 8.2 million (represen ting 50% of total costs). This decision, announced by the European Commission on 21 March, concerns...

FOOD LAW : NEW STEP TOWARDS HARMONISED RULES ON VITAMIN AND MINERAL ADDITIVES.(fortification of food products )(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... A decision on new EU-wide legislation on the fortification of food products is drawing closer after the European Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee voted through a second-reading Recommendation tabled by Austrian...

GMO : NO MEASURES ON GM/CONVENTIONAL CROP CO-EXISTENCE IN SIGHT.(development of national strategies)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... A uniform regulation on the co-existence of genetically-modified and conventional or organic crops would 'not be appropriate', EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has said. The European Commission adopted a report on 10 March...

BEUC : NUTRITIONAL CLAIMS MISLEAD CONSUMERS.(good guide for consumers)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... aNutritional and health claims on foods are not a good guide for consumers wishing to watch their diet since they tend to focus on only one aspect of a product - claiming a low level of sugar, for example, but not mentioning the high levels of...

FOOD LAW : PARLIAMENT LOOKS FOR COMPROMISE ON HEALTH CLAIMS.(Food Safety Committee)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... aThe contentious issue of nutrient profiles for all food products that carry health or nutrition claims returned to divide the European Parliament as it survived a vote in the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee on 21 March on...

POULTRY INDUSTRY PLEA.(embargo measures imposed by third countries )(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The presidents of the regions of Aquitaine, Brittany, Centre, Limousin, Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes, which together account for about 80% of France's poultry production, have put in a claim to European Commission President Jose Manuel...

COMMON ORGANISATION : PRODUCERS SOUNDED OUT ON FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SECTOR REFORM.(environmental impact of reform )(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The European Commission staged a hearing in mid-March to sound out fruit and vegetable farmers with a view to preparing an impact assessment to accompany its new proposals for a reform of the common organisation of the market. These proposals,...

ENVIRONMENT : RATIFICATION BECKONS FOR THREE ALPINE CONVENTION PROTOCOLS.(soil prevention )(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... aThree aprotocols to the Convention on the protection of the Alps (soil protection, energy and tourism) should shortly be ratified by the European Union on the basis of a proposal for a Decision presented by the European Commission to the...

RUSSIAN LAND REFORM.(valuation of land and mass valuation of real estate)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The EU is to provide further support to market-based land reform in Russia through a new 3 million, 25-month project, the European Commission has announced. The implementing consortium is headed by Swedesurvey AB and the other consortium...

ANIMAL WELFARE : SIX NEW ALTERNATIVES TO ANIMAL TESTING OF DRUGS AND CHEMICALS.(European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... Six new alternative testing methods that will reduce the need for certain drugs and chemicals to be tested on animals were approved on March 21 by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative...

SOLOMON ISLANDS.(partnership agreement)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The EU Council of Ministers, on 13 March, adopted a Regulation approving a fisheries partnership agreement between the EU and the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. The agreement provides for financial, technical and scientific cooperation...

WHO BIRD FLU TASK FORCE.(World Health Organisation)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on 10 March that it is setting up a task force, responsible for containing the incidences of avian influenza and preventing its spread to humans. Dr Keiji Fukuda, Director of the WHO's Global...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : YES TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BUT NOT AT THE CAP'S EXPENSE.(rules for fisheries)(Brief article)
March 24, 2006... The Lisbon Strategy and the Strategy on Sustainable Development are complementary, according to European Union Agriculture Ministers, who nevertheless emphasise that the Sustainable Development Strategy must not be achieved to the detriment of...