Europe Agri articles from May 2007

Europe Agri archives from May 2007

SUGAR: CHANGES TO RESTRUCTURING SCHEME.
May 11, 2007... As announced by Europolitics in its 3 May issue, the European Commission proposed on 7 May changes to the sugar restructuring scheme aimed at making it more effective and thus reducing European Union sugar production to sustainable levels. The...

AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES: PRIORITIES FOR PORTUGAL.
May 11, 2007... The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will be one of the priorities of the Portuguese EU Presidency during the latter half of this year, announced that country's Agriculture Minister Jose Silva. His remarks were reported by the Portuguese press...

ANIMAL WELFARE STANDARDS.
May 11, 2007... The 27 EU member states believe it is necessary to allow European breeders to benefit from efforts granted in terms of animal welfare by means of "simple, easy to recognise, understandable and credible" labelling. This is indicated in their...

ENVIRONMENT : BIODIVERSITY PLACED UNDER CLOSE INTERNATIONAL SURVEILLANCE.
May 11, 2007... With its announcement, on 9 May in Washington, of the launch of the SpeciesBase' project, the European Commission confirmed the European Union's participation in the creation of a Global Species Information System. The new system aims to place...

BLUEFIN TUNA: WWF FURIOUS.(Brief article)
May 11, 2007... "The European Union has failed to grasp its final opportunity this year to save bluefin tuna from collapse in the Mediterranean," fumed Gemma Parkes, communications officer, WWF Mediterranean, after learning that the European Fisheries Council,...

CMO WINE REFORM.
May 11, 2007... The European Commission is considering reducing by half the vineyard grubbing programme that it proposed implementing in June 2006 to reduce the wine surplus. Grubbing refers to digging up the roots of vines. In response to the almost unanimous...

COCOA BUY-OUT OKAYED.
May 11, 2007... On 26 April, under the simplified procedure, the European Commission cleared the UK's ED&F Man Group to buyaNV Bromacom of the Netherlands.aED&F Man is a commodities trader of cocoa, sugar, coffee and bio-energy products and Bromacom is a cocoa...

ENERGY : COMMISSION LAUNCHES BIOFUELS CONSULTATION.
May 11, 2007... The European Commission finally launched a public consultation on biofuels on 30 April. Following the March 2007 adoption by the European Council of a binding 10% biofuel share in transport, the Commission is once again consulting stakeholders....

WINE : COMMISSION PREPARED TO MAKE CONCESSIONS ON GRUBBING.
May 11, 2007... The European Commission is considering reducing by half the vineyard grubbing [uprooting] programme that it proposed implementing in June 2006 to reduce the wine surplus. In response to the almost unanimous outcry caused by its extensive...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : COMMISSION'S SUGAR REFORM PROPOSAL DRAWS MIXED REACTIONS.
May 11, 2007... The proposal to relaunch the restructuring scheme of the sugar sector that was formally adopted on 7 May by the European Commission (see below) and presented that same day in Brussels was met with mixed reactions by the EU's agriculture...

ANIMAL WELFARE : COUNCIL HAMMERS OUTAGREEMENT ON CHICKENS.
May 11, 2007... The EU's agriculture ministers managed, on 7 May, after a number of developments, to reach agreement on the directive setting minimum rules for the protection of chickens kept for meat production. They decided to limit stocking density to 33...

SUGAR : EP APPROVES REDUCED SUGAR CANE TARIFFS FOR NEW MEMBERS.
May 11, 2007... The European Parliament has ratified the European Commission's proposal to introduce reduced tariffs for importing unrefined sugar cane into Bulgaria and Romania to meet the needs of domestic refiners, but only for the 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and...

FOODSTUFFS : EP STILL PORING OVER FLAVOURINGS AND ENZYMES.
May 11, 2007... The European Parliament's Environment and Public Health Committee (ENVI) adopted on 8 May two reports meant to lay down conditions of use and draw up a positive list of flavourings and aromas authorised in the EU. The report on flavourings, by...

FISHERIES : EP WANTS TO BOOST SUPPORT FOR OUTERMOST REGIONS.
May 11, 2007... Members of the European Parliament want to increase by 2 million a year the budget for outermost regions to compensate for the additional costs incurred in the marketing of certain fishery products, due to increases in energy and transport...

ANIMAL WELFARE : EU UNVEILS ALTERNATIVES TO LIVE ANIMAL TESTING.
May 11, 2007... The validation of five new in-vitro' tests marks an important step towards ending the practice of using rabbits in skin and eye irritancy testing. Validated on 27 April by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Centre for the...

FOOD QUALITY CERTIFICATION.(Brief article)
May 11, 2007... The European Commission, on 8 May, added four names of agricultural products to the list of products with an EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). They are the French products Tome des Bauges...

FOOD RETAIL MERGER CLEARED.
May 11, 2007... On 26 April, the European Commission cleared the acquisition by Euro-Billa Holding AG of Delvita a.s. of the Czech Republic.aEuro-Billa belongs to the German group REWE, which deals in food and non-food retail and wholesale, travel and tourism....

FRANCE DEFENDS SUGAR REGIME.
May 11, 2007... France has attacked the proposal of EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to offer sugar producers from the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states free access to the EU market from 2015. In a communique dated 7 May, French...

ILLEGAL GM MAIZE IN US SHIPMENT.
May 11, 2007... The European Commission is waiting for the Dutch authorities to notify it and other member states and that it return to the United States a cargo of genetically modified maize, unauthorised in the EU, which was offloaded in a Dutch port, said a...

ENERGY : IPCC SUPPORT FOR BIOFUELS ANGERS ENVIRONMENTALISTS.
May 11, 2007... The fourth assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has angered environmentalists despite a clearer call for drastic cuts in carbon emissions. A group of environmentalist organisations, including the Global...

FISHERIES POLICY : MEPS INCREASE TONNAGE WITHDRAWN WITH PUBLIC AID TO 10%.
May 11, 2007... The reallocation of 4% of the tonnage withdrawn with public aid is too low in relation to the whole of the coastal fishing fleet and is not sufficient to improve safety, hygiene, working conditions and product quality on board, maintains the...

ORGANIC PRODUCTS : MEPS REJECT URGENT VOTE ON ORGANIC PRODUCTS.(Members of European Parliment)
May 11, 2007... The European Parliament has rejected the Council's request for an urgent vote on the overhaul of regulations on organic products. In a show-of-hands vote on 24 April in plenary, the EP chose to make use of all the time available to it to...

FISHERIES POLICY : MEPS SUGGEST WAYS TO REBUILD COD STOCKS IN THE BALTIC SEA.
May 11, 2007... "It is essential to maintain a sufficient balance between the reconstitution of stocks and the maintenance of conditions allowing fishermen to continue with their activity," insist MEPs from the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee, who...

CAP REFORM : MEPS WANT GREATER FLEXIBILITY IN THE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SECTOR.
May 11, 2007... "I am very impressed by the high level of consensus obtained on my report, given the complexity of a case involving 40 different products, originating from various countries and from very different circumstances," said Mabel Salinas (PES,...

FISHERIES COUNCIL : MINISTERS AGREE MEASURES FOR CONSERVATION OF MIGRATORY SPECIES.
May 11, 2007... During their meeting in Brussels on 7 May, EU agriculture and fisheries ministers adopted two important regulations to update EU law on the protection of stocks of migratory species and to establish a multi-annual plan for the sustainable...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : MINISTERS AGREE TO ADAPT CONDITIONALITY OF DIRECT AID.
May 11, 2007... EU agriculture ministers, during the Agriculture Council in Brussels on 7 May, welcomed the report presented by the European Commission on the changes to be made to the conditions under which direct aid may be paid to farmers. Introduced by the...

EU/ASEM : MINISTERS URGED TO FIGHT ILLEGAL LOGGING OF TROPICAL WOOD.(Asia-Europe Meeting)(Brief article)
May 11, 2007... Highlighting the illegal imports of merbau wood into the European Union, Greenpeace asked environment ministers meeting on 26 and 27 April in Copenhagen with ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting), to take measures to reduce imports of this wood and to...

EU/UN : NATIONS AGREE TO BAN BOTTOM TRAWLING IN SOUTH PACIFIC.(European Union)(United Nation)(Brief article)
May 11, 2007... The countries bordering the South Pacific or with fleets operating in that zone - which includes the European Union - agreed on 4 May in Renaca (Chile) to ban bottom trawling in all zones of the region that are home to vulnerable marine...

INTERVIEW WITH JOHAN VANHEMELRIJCK, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF EUROPABIO : 'OUR HURDLES TO MARKET ARE HIGHER THAN IN THE US'.(Interview)
May 11, 2007... EuropaBio is the association representing bioindustries at European level. Speaking to Europolitics, Johan Vanhemelrijck gives his views on the mid-term review of the EU's 2002-2010 Strategy on Lifesciences and Biotechnology, published by the...

SUGAR : PLAN TO RESTRUCTURE SUGAR SECTOR RELAUNCHED.
May 11, 2007... In the face of the failure of its plan for restructuring the sugar sector, the European Commission adopted, on 7 May, a set of proposals designed to make it more cost-effective. At the time of reform of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) for...

RURAL ENVIRONMENT TRAINING.(www.effat.org)(www.ceettar.net)(Brief article)
May 11, 2007... The social partners of services in the rural environment (CEETTAR for employers and EFFAT for employees), a sector suffering from a shortage of skilled workers, presented on 2 May a proposal for a common-core syllabus for continuous training....

SALMONELLA IN BROILER CHICKENS.
May 11, 2007... A European Commission's proposal aimed at reducing the prevalence of salmonella in chickens kept for meat production (broilers) was endorsed by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health on 25 April. The draft regulation lays...

HUMANITARIAN AID : WFP SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH THE COMMISSION.
May 11, 2007... In order to emphasise the importance of the partnership between the two institutions, the new Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Josette Sheeran, chose the European Commission for her first visit to one of the WFP's donors...

WTO PANEL ON WINES AND SPIRITS IN INDIA.
May 11, 2007... As anticipated, the World Trade Organisation's Dispute Settlement Body announced, on 26 April in Geneva, the creation of a panel to settle the conflict between the EU and India over wines and spirits. New Delhi opposed the first request for...

ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS : ACP STATES SET CONDITIONS FOR AN ACCORD.(African, Caribbean and Pacific)
May 31, 2007... The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states will not sign Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) without guarantees from the EU on development and market access. That is the clear message sent by the ACP Council of Ministers, on 24 May, the...

AID TO SPANISH SWEET COMPANY CLEARED.
May 31, 2007... On May 10, the European Commission closed an investigation into aid to Spanish sweet manufacturer Chupa Chups SA. A loan of 35 million given by the Insituto Catalan de Finanzas was found compatible with state aid rules as it was granted under...

ENERGY : ALDE AND INDUSTRY PONDER BIOFUELS.
May 31, 2007... Mulling over the March European Council's commitment to a 10% target for biofuels, the European Parliament's Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group organised, on 14 May, a seminar on the future of the European bioenergy...

ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS : BANANA COMPROMISE TO SAVE THE NEGOTIATIONS.(Brief article)
May 31, 2007... EU development ministers have reached a compromise on bananas in order to enable the negotiations with the African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) group of countries to move forward with a view to concluding economic partnership agreements (EPA)....

BIODIVERSITY IN TROPICAL ZONES.(Brief article)
May 31, 2007... Protecting biodiversity and ecosystems in the European Union's tropical and overseas territories is the objective of NET-BIOME, a new research initiative launched on 10 May by the European Commission. It forms part of the ERA-NET action (aimed...

COTTON : COMMISSION LAUNCHES CONSULTATION FOR REFORM OF COTTON REGIME.
May 31, 2007... Production and support for cotton in the EU gives rise to several economic, environmental, social and quality questions. Following a ruling by the EU Court of Justice, the European Commission must now present new proposals for the reform of...

FISHERIES/REGIONS : COUNCIL RENEWS COMPENSATION SYSTEM FOR OUTERMOST REGIONS.
May 31, 2007... Between 2007 and 2013, fishery products in the outermost regions of the EU will still be able to benefit from the existing compensation system. The Council of EU ministers, on 21 May, adopted without debate a regulation to extend this aid...

COUNCIL REPEALS DIRECTIVES.(Brief article)
May 31, 2007... On 21 May, the Council decided to repeal the so-called knots in the wood' directive (68/89/EEC). In the future, it will be up to standardisation organisations to define wood criteria for the industry. At the same time, it has also repealed...

ORGANIC PRODUCTS : EP URGES STRICTER RULES ON ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS.
May 31, 2007... The European Parliament has formally requested stricter regulation on organic food products. On 22 May, the EP adopted a consultation report by Marie-Helene Aubert (Greens-EFA, France) that submits a series of amendments to the European...

EP VOTE ON PREPACKED PRODUCTS.
May 31, 2007... The European Parliament, on 10 May, voted in favour of a proposal to deregulate pack sizes for prepacked products with the exclusion of wine and spirits for which EU legislation on mandatory sizes exists. The Council's common position of...

FISHERIES POLICY : EU CLOSES NORTH ATLANTIC PORTS TO ILLEGAL FISHERS.
May 31, 2007... From now on, foreign fishing vessels will not be authorised to land frozen fish products in the ports of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC)(1) member states unless the state where the vessel is registered has given the port...

EU/CANADA : EU OPPOSES SEAL HUNTING IN CANADA BUT FINANCES IT IN THE BALTICS.
May 31, 2007... A group of veterinary experts from the European Commission's DG Environment left Brussels on 10 April with the intention of observing the seal hunting conditions and practices in Newfoundland (Canada), only to return empty handed. Poor weather...

EU/RUSSIA : EU TO PRESS MOSCOW ON ISSUES HOLDING UP ITS WTO ACCESSION.
May 31, 2007... The Union intends to use the EU-Russia Summit in Samara on 18 May as an opportunity "to underline a need for progress in Russia's World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession process and further accelerate work" between the Commission and the...

FOOD SAFETY : EU TRAINING FOR SAFER FOOD GETS POSITIVE ASSESSMENT.
May 31, 2007... The European Commission does not intend to stop in mid-course with such positive results: in 2006, 1,400 participants from around 100 countries attended Commission workshops for Better training for safer food', which was aimed at explaining...

FIGHT AGAINST OBESITY : FISCHER BOEL BACKS SCHOOL FRUIT SCHEME.
May 31, 2007... The milk distribution programme, subsidised by the European Community since the end of the 1970s, could be extended to fruit. This is what Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel implied on 14 May, on the occasion of a speech in Brussels...

AGRICULTURAL COMMON POLICY : FISCHER BOEL HOPES TO BOOSTNON-AGRICULTURAL CAP SPENDING.
May 31, 2007... The level of member state funding of axis 3 of rural development policy, on the quality of life and diversification of rural society, suggests that "a majority of states are still reluctant to promote investments in innovation outside of...

FRUIT & VEGETABLE : FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCING MEMBER STATES GO ON THE OFFENSIVE.
May 31, 2007... German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer noted, on 21 May on the fringes of the informal Agriculture Council in Mainz (Germany), that it should be possible to conclude the reform of the common market organisation (CMO) for fruit and...

ILLEGAL GM MAIZE.
May 31, 2007... The Dutch Food Safety Authority (VWA) announced on 9 May that it is recalling part of a cargo containing illegal genetically engineered (GE) maize imported from the United States, said Greenpeace in a news release. The VWA has also announced...

HEALTH : KYPRIANOU SETS OUT 2007-2015 ROAD MAP TO COUNTER OBESITY.
May 31, 2007... The EU's Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou is due to present a white paper setting out an EU strategy on nutrition and physical activity on 30 May. Taking care not to stigmatise the agribusiness industry, as the services of Enterprise...

ENVIRONMENT : MEPS WANT COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY.(Members of the European Parliament )
May 31, 2007... Members of the European Parliament are particularly concerned about dwindling biodiversity in the EU. They have therefore called for urgent efforts from heads of state and government in respecting their commitments made in 2001 where they...

COMPETITIVENESS COUNCIL : MINISTERS SUPPORT BUILDING OF BIOTECH PILOT PLANTS.
May 31, 2007... Ministers have given their support to the idea of setting up pilot plants to assess the potential of new biotechnology applications, in conclusions adopted in the Competitiveness Council on 21 May. It is planned that these pilot plants...

DOHA ROUND : PESSIMISM GROWING IN WASHINGTON OVER CHANCES OF A DEAL.
May 31, 2007... The mood among the free trade camp in Washington has become decidedly downbeat regarding the chances of a deal in the Doha Round of world trade talks. The US administration's crucial Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) expires on 30 June and there...

EU/RUSSIA : POLAND SATISFIED WITH SAMARA SUMMIT.
May 31, 2007... Poland's Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for showing solidarity with Poland in its meat row' with Russia at the EU-Russia Summit in Samara on 18 May. "I...

AQUACULTURE : PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON SUSTAINABLE' AQUACULTURE.
May 31, 2007... Is there a future for sustainable' aquaculture in Europe? This is the question being put to operators, non-governmental organisations and the public as part of a public consultation launched by the European Commission on 11 May(1). Answers are...

PUTIN CALLS FOR MORE EU DIALOGUE ON MEAT.
May 31, 2007... Following the unsuccessful EU-Russia summit on 18 May, overshadowed by Russia's conflicts with individual member states such as Poland, Russia's President Vladimir Putin asked Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev to step up dialogue with the EU...

WINE : WINE SECTOR REFORM PLAN COMES UNDER FIRE.
May 31, 2007... The proposal for reform of the Common Market Organisation for wine, tabled by Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, came under fire from a number of agriculture ministers, on 20 May, during a visit to a vineyard near Mainz on the...