Europe Agri articles from September 2008

Europe Agri archives from September 2008

INTERVIEW WITH MARCELO VASCONCELOS, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY FISHERIES CONTROL AGENCY : AGENCY DEMANDS MORE AUTONOMY TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE.
September 12, 2008... The fundamental role of the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA) should be to exert equal pressure on all fisheries to ensure compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy (CFP). While the agency has already demonstrated its...

INTERVIEW WITH CESAR DEBEN, DIRECTOR FOR THE CONCEPTION AND COORDINATION OF THE FISHERIES POLICY (DG MARE, EUROPEAN COMMISSION) : COMMISSION SUPPORTS REQUEST FOR CFCA'S ENLARGED MANDATE.(Interview)
September 12, 2008... An enlarged and strengthened mandate: this request was expressed insistently both by Marcelo Vasconcelos, President of the Governing Board of the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA), and its Executive Director Harm Koster, during the...

COMMUNITY CONTROL AGENCY PROVES ITS WORTH.
September 12, 2008... The Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA), set up in April 2005 by a decision of the Council of Ministers (Regulation EC 768/2005), is the keystone of the drive to improve compliance with the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The agency has...

AGRICULTURE : MEASURES TO SUPPORT SHEEP SECTOR BEING CONSIDERED.
September 12, 2008... Training in new techniques, rebalancing public aid and promotion measures are among the actions envisaged to give Europe's flagging sheep sector a boost. These options will be examined during a conference called The challenges and future of...

EU/CANADA : OTTAWA: EU BAN ON SEAL PRODUCTS "A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT".(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... The proposed ban on the import of products derived from seals has irritated Canada which, unsurprisingly, quickly reacted to the proposal for a regulation to that effect adopted by the European Commission on 23 July (see Europolitics 3578)....

BIOFUELS : PARIS AIMS TO BUILD CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA.
September 12, 2008... The French EU Presidency hopes, on 2 September, to iron out differences in the member states' positions on sustainability criteria for biofuels. During the summer, it presented a new compromise on two key issues: biofuels effectiveness criteria...

PATROLLING THE SEAS.
September 12, 2008... The Tarifa, one of Spain's four main fishery inspection vessels, has just returned from a ten-day bluefin tuna patrol in the Bay of Biscay. The 37-strong crew, with the assistance of up to four inspectors, have recently carried out similar...

THE AGENCY'S GROWING STRENGTH.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... In two years of activity, the Community Fisheries Control Agency has developed its activities and increased its inspections. Figures on the implementation of the two joint deployment plans (JDP) and operations carried out in the NAFO area speak...

BIOFUELS : UNION AIMS TO TOUGHEN UP BIOFUEL CRITERIA.
September 12, 2008... A consensus seems to be building among the EU-27 on the type of sufficiently green' biofuel to be supported in the European Union. At their meeting on 24 July, EU ambassadors agreed on "sustainable criteria" for production and import of...

AGRICULTURE AGENDA.
September 12, 2008... INFORMAL AGRICULTURE COUNCIL Annecy - 22 and 23 September AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES COUNCIL Brussels - 29 and 30 September Draft agenda AGRICULTURE - Common agricultural policy health check : Proposal for a Council...

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS : 45 MN EURO SCHEME TO PROMOTE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
September 12, 2008... A set of new programmes to promote agricultural products will be launched in 16 member states(1), with a total budget of 92.4 million, of which the European Union will contribute half (45.7 million). The European Commission approved, on 24...

AGRICULTURAL DESIGNATIONS.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... The European Commission added six agricultural product and food names to the list of protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI). It is a matter of Portuguese products 'Butelo de Vinhais' or 'Bucho de...

AGRICULTURAL DESIGNATIONS.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... The European Commission added, on 5 August, three designations of food and agricultural products to the list of protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI). The products in question are Brussels...

EU/RUSSIA : AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FALL VICTIM TO TENSIONS WITH RUSSIA.
September 12, 2008... Meat, cereals and fruit and vegetables are bearing the brunt of the deterioration of bilateral relations between the European Union and Russia. Moscow is increasing its pretexts for turning back entire shipments of goods at its borders....

AID FOR ROMANIAN FARMERS.
September 12, 2008... Bucharest is to ask the European Commission for an increase in direct payments to Romanian farmers, in the framework of the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy, Agriculture Minister Dacian Ciolos said on 2 September. Several new EU...

BELGIUM INVESTIGATES TRAFFICKING IN SPOILED CHICKEN.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... The Belgian judicial system is investigating a huge trafficking operation in which spoiled chicken meat was taken from stocks constituted during the dioxin crisis and exported to Ukraine, where it was processed before being imported back into...

ENERGY : BIODIESEL INDUSTRY FEARS WEAKENED 10% BIOFUELS TARGET.
September 12, 2008... The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) has called on MEPs not to water down the current 10% target for biofuels in transport proposed in the European Commission's January 2008 Renewables Directive (RES). With an Industry Committee vote scheduled...

CALL FOR TENDER FOR STUDIES IN AGRICULTURE.
September 12, 2008... The European Commission launched, on 26 August, a call for tender for a study on modelling feed consumption in the EU. The aim is, based on this analysis, to develop a quantitative model to estimate the annual demand for feed concentrates in...

FOODSTUFFS : CLONED ANIMAL PRODUCTS RAISE CONCERNS.
September 12, 2008... The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has expressed reservations over the future sale of food from cloned animals in an opinion published on 24 July. The European Commission states that it will analyse it with regard to current EU legislation...

ENERGY : COMMISSION CONSULTS ON BIOMASS FOR NON-TRANSPORT ENERGY PURPOSES.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... A consultation by the European Commission on EU-level sustainability criteria for biomass for energy purposes other than transport comes to a close on 30 September. The consultation stems from the 23 January 2008 package of energy and climate...

FISHERIES POLICY : COMMISSIONER BORG WANTS CFP REVISION TO BE MOVED FORWARD.
September 12, 2008... The revision of the common fisheries policy (CFP), initially set for 2012, should be launched immediately. That is what EU Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg is expected to tell the European Commission, which will hold a...

FISHERIES POLICY : COMMISSION RECOMMENDS REDUCED FISHING IN BALTIC SEA.
September 12, 2008... Fish catches in the Baltic Sea - particularly for western cod stock - will have to be reduced again in 2009 from 2008 levels, the European Commission has announced. Its proposal for total allowable catches (TACs) for the Baltic Sea for 2009,...

DEFENDING THE EUROPEAN AGRICULTURAL MODEL.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... The European agricultural model, characterised by "smaller farms more widely spread across the territory, the quality of production, its diversity and its traceability" is "competitive" in the same way as "the American, Anglo-Saxon model of...

FOOD SAFETY : EU AGENCY NOT CONVINCED BY NUTRITIONAL CLAIMS.
September 12, 2008... The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has issued an opinion that will make for grim reading for theaagri-foodstuffs industry. Out of its eight initial opinions assessing nutritional claims vaunting the benefits of products on health, and...

EU/WTO : EU CHALLENGES DECISION ON BANANAS.
September 12, 2008... The European Union has challenged the decision by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which had ruled that the EU's system for importing bananas contravened international trade rules, announced the European Commission on 28 August.This move had...

FISHERIES : EU FLEET ACCUSED OF UNDECLARED SHARK CATCHES.
September 12, 2008... European ships have allegedly caught thousands of sharks without declaring them to the fisheries management bodies, contrary to their obligations, according to the International Council for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The...

EXPORT REFUNDS FOR FRESH AND FROZEN PIG MEAT SUSPENDED.
September 12, 2008... A European Commission proposal to set the export refunds for fresh and frozen pig meat at zero was discussed by the Management Committee for the Common organisation of agricultural markets on 8 August. The export refunds (31.1/100kg for...

FISCHER BOEL NAMED WINE PERSONALITY OF 2008.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Mariann Fischer Boel, the EU commissioner for agriculture and rural development, was on 3 September awarded the Wine Personality of the Year 2008 award by the International Wine Challenge. The IWC has been running for more than 25 years and is...

FISHERIES/NORTH EAST ATLANTIC.
September 12, 2008... The European Union is soon expected to incorporate into its legislation a number of amendments agreed by the contracting parties to the Convention on Multilateral Cooperation in the North East Atlantic Fisheries. Among the amendments, one will...

COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY : FRENCH PRESIDENCY COYLY LAUNCHES POST-2013 DEBATE.
September 12, 2008... The French Presidency of the EU does not want to wait until the end of negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy health check' to open the post-2013 debate. This dossier will be launched as of the informal meeting of EU agriculture...

GMOS: BASF GOES TO COURT.
September 12, 2008... The German firm BASF announced, on 24 July, that it had lodged a complaint with the EU Court of Justice against the European Commission, which for months has been postponing authorisation of its transgenic potato Amflora, in spite of the...

GM SOYBEAN AUTHORISED.
September 12, 2008... The European Commission adopted, on 8 September, a decision authorising genetically modified (GM) soybean A2704-12 (from Bayer CropScience) for feed and food uses and for import and processing. A2704-12 soybean has received a positive safety...

CEREALS : GOOD CEREALS HARVEST EXPECTED FOR 2008.
September 12, 2008... In 2008, the EU cereals harvest is forecast to exceed last year's and the past five years' average production. Due to favourable weather conditions and an increase in the planted area farmed, it will reach close to 301 million tonnes (43...

SHEEP : JOINT EFFORT TO TACKLE CRISIS IN SHEEP SECTOR.
September 12, 2008... The sheep meat industry, which has been in an unprecedented decline in the European Union, is at the centre of the French EU Presidency's concerns, as shown by the European conference organised on 4 and 5 September in Limoges. Surrounded by the...

PESTICIDES : MAXIMUM RESIDUE LIMITS NOW HARMONISED AT EU LEVEL.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... The European Commission has made available, on its website, a database which can be consulted to search for the maximum residue limits (MRL) applicable to each crop and pesticide(1). This newly developed database is freely and easily accessible...

BIOFUELS : MEMBER STATES CLOSE TO AGREEMENT ON DURABILITY CRITERIA.
September 12, 2008... The French EU Presidency is well on the way to succeeding in reaching a compromise before the Council of energy ministers on 10 October on the directive on promoting the use of energy produced from renewable sources. It managed to find a...

FOOD SAFETY : MEPS CALL FOR BAN ON ANIMAL CLONING FOR FOOD.
September 12, 2008... The European Union should ban foods being produced from cloned animals, asks the European Parliament in a resolution adopted by a large majority on 3 September in the plenary session (622 votes in favour, 32 against and 25 abstentions). It also...

MERGER IN VETERINARY PRODUCTS SECTOR.
September 12, 2008... The European Commission cleared, on 27 August, the acquisition of certain animal health assets of Schering-Plough (SP Assets) by Pfizer, both US pharmaceutical companies. The Commission concluded that the new entity would continue to face...

MID-TERM EVALUATION OF FOREST ACTION PLAN.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... The European Commission launched, on 24 July, a call for tender for a mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the European Union Forest Action Plan 2007-2011, as foreseen in a communication of 15 June 2006. This mid-term evaluation for the...

AGRICULTURE POLICY : ORGANIC FARMING CAMPAIGN IS LAUNCHED.
September 12, 2008... "Organic farming. Good for nature, good for you" is the slogan of a new promotional campaign for organic farming, launched by the European Commission on 25 July at the Libramont agricultural fair in Belgium. Its aim is to increase consumer...

ORGANIC FARMING: EU LOGO POSTPONED.
September 12, 2008... The EU logo identifying organic products will not come into force on 1 January 2009, as initially foreseen, but on 1 July 2010. Members of the European Parliament approved a report by Neil Parish (EPP-ED, UK), on 2 September, which endorses...

PLANT HEALTH POLICY : PARIS ADVOCATES CREATION OF PLANT HEALTH MASTER PLAN.
September 12, 2008... "Reaffirm the global objective of plant health policy": food safety, maintaining yields and the protection of plant heritage. This is the ambition shown by the French EU Presidency, which has submitted to experts from the 27 EU member states a...

GMOS : PARIS SUGGESTS 'SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS' TO LEGISLATION.
September 12, 2008... During the summer, France's EU Presidency submitted a document of some 15 pages that aims to prepare the ground for the working group on GMOs, which will meet on 5 and 24 September to propose improvements to European legislation. According to...

AQUACULTURE : PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR AQUACULTURE.
September 12, 2008... Aquaculture is an essential tool for achieving ecological conservation in certain coastal zones and should therefore be promoted, stimulated and supported financially, say members of the European Parliament. The own-initiative report by Ioannis...

DOHA ROUND : PARTNERS SEEK TO RELAUNCH NEGOTIATIONS.
September 12, 2008... The USA, Brazil and Indonesia are among the countries that are looking to relaunch the Doha Round negotiations after July's stalemate. The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Pascal Lamy met United States Trade Representative...

ENVIRONMENT : WORLD'S WATER RESOURCES FACE UNBEARABLE PRESSURE.
September 12, 2008... Meeting in Stockholm from 17 to 23 August for World Water Week, 2,400 experts and government and civil society representatives from over 100 countries concluded their work with an alarming message: the world's water resources are facing ever...

WTO RULES IN FAVOUR OF MEXICO IN OLIVE OIL DISPUTE.
September 12, 2008... The European Union was unable to demonstrate that the import taxes imposed by Mexico on olive oil contravened the rules of the World Trade Organisation, ruled the institution on 4 September. In 2006, the European Commission had complained...

ANIMAL WELLBEING : NEW REGULATION SEEKS TO IMPROVE SLAUGHTER PRACTICES.
September 26, 2008... The European Commission presented, on 17 September, its draft regulation on animal wellbeing at the time of slaughter. It is a question, it specifies, of improving the protection of animals at the time of slaughter, of encouraging innovation in...

CAP POST-2013 : PRESIDENCY ATTEMPTS TO OVERCOME ABSENCE OF SHARED VISION.
September 26, 2008... "The absence of a shared vision among the EU27" is one of the reasons which has led the French EU Presidency to dedicate the informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers, opened on the evening of 21 September in Annecy, to a debate on the...

FOOD CRISIS : AGRICULTURE FUNDS PROPOSAL RECEIVES CAUTIOUS SUPPORT.
September 26, 2008... The European Commission's suggestion to take a billion euro from agriculture credits unused in the EU budget to grant aid to the poorest countries affected by the food crisis(1) has been welcomed by experts and MEPs, even if some believe that...

BRITISH FOOD'S BUY OF GBI GETS CONDITIONAL CLEARANCE.(GBI takeover of Associated British Foods )(Brief article)
September 26, 2008... The European Commission cleared, on 23 September, the takeover of parts of GBI (Netherlands) by Associated British Foods (ABF, United Kingdom), two producers of baker's yeast, provided certain conditions are met. The transaction as originally...

FISHERIES POLICY : CFP REVISION KICKS OFF.
September 26, 2008... The 2002 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) unquestionably improved the management of resources and fisheries, but its implementation still presents difficulties, noted Joe Borg, on 17 September. The fisheries commissioner presented to...

CEREALS : COMMISSION JUSTIFIES DECOUPLING FOR DRIED FODDER.
September 26, 2008... In a report on the production of dried fodder in the EU, adopted on 19 September, the European Commission notes the need for the introduction, by 1 April 2011, of total decoupling of aid for producers in this sector, as pointed out earlier in...

VETERINARY POLICY : COMMISSION PRESENTS ACTION PLAN ON NEW ANIMAL HEALTH STRATEGY.
September 26, 2008... The European Commission published, on 10 September, a draft action plan for animal health that gives concrete form to the new EU strategy in this field, presented a few months ago. The document draws up a list of some 20 actions to improve the...

FOOD CRISIS : COMMISSION PROPOSES TO EXPAND FOOD AID PROGRAMME.
September 26, 2008... The Community food distribution programme for the most deprived people in the EU should be improved, on one hand, because agricultural surpluses, which were the main source of these goods, are now excessively low and, on the other hand, because...

ANIMAL WELLBEING : COMMISSION WANTS STRICTER SUPERVISION FOR ABATTOIRS.
September 26, 2008... The appointment of an official competent for questions of animal wellbeing and designation of a national reference centre for these questions are parts of a draft regulation the European Commission presentED, on 17 September. The aim is to...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : DEBATE ON CAP POST-2013 EXPOSES NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE.
September 26, 2008... The French EU Presidency had the unenviable task, on 23 September in Annecy, of getting EU agriculture ministers to reveal their intentions for the future of the Common Agricultural Policy post-2013, during their traditional informal meeting....

OLIVE OIL : DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN FOR OLIVE OIL SOON TO BE MANDATORY.
September 26, 2008... The European Commission presented to the member states' experts, on 17 September, a proposal for a regulation introducing mandatory labelling of geographical origin for virgin and extra-virgin olive oil. The provisions in force since 2002 make...

EU/ACP/BANANAS : ECJ: LOSS OF MARKET SHARE GIVES NO RIGHT TO COMPENSATION.(African, Caribbean and Pacific)(European Court of Justice)
September 26, 2008... The European Community cannot be held responsible for compensating the damages that it caused to companies resulting from a possible ignorance by its bodies of World Trade Organisation agreements. This is according to an EU Court of Justice...

EU/INDIA/WTO : EU REQUESTS WTO CONSULTATIONS ON SPIRITS AND WINES.
September 26, 2008... The EU reintroduced the issue of India's domestic tax regime for spirits and wines before the World Trade Organisation, on 22 September in Geneva. The European Commission has requested WTO consultations with New Delhi, seeking "clarifications"...

FOOD CRISIS : EU STRUGGLES TO FUND ITS PROMISE TO POOR COUNTRIES' FARMERS.
September 26, 2008... The EU is struggling to agree on the way to fund its promise to give one billion euro to farmers in poor countries in response to the global food crisis. The member states and the European Parliament oppose the idea that the funds should come...

FRANCE SEEKS TO BOOST IMPORT CONTROLS.
September 26, 2008... Europe must step up checks on food imports in the face of growing scares like that over toxic milk in China, the French agriculture minister said. 'We can see with what's going on in China with milk, with what's happened in Ukraine with...

DOHA ROUND : FRENCH PRESIDENCY DOUBTFUL OF DOHA REVIVAL.(Brief article)
September 26, 2008... The French Presidency of the EU has poured cold water on Pascal Lamy's efforts to revive the flagging Doha Round of international trade talks. Anne-Marie Idrac, the French secretary of state in charge of trade, has indicated that there was only...

HEALTH CRISIS MANAGEMENT : MEMBER STATES WANT STRENGTHENED GOVERNANCE.
September 26, 2008... Strengthened Community tools and an inter-sector approach to the management of health crises: these are the commitments which had been made by the end of the informal meeting of EU health ministers, on 8 September in Angers, dedicated to the...

RENEWABLE ENERGY : PARLIAMENT HALVES BIOFUELS TARGET, SETS PENALTIES.
September 26, 2008... The European Parliament's Energy Committee (ITRE) adopted, by 50 to two, with no abstentions, a report on the European Commission's January 2008 draft directive on the promotion of renewable energy. The committee, on 11 September, effectively...

CAP HEALTH CHECK : PRESIDENCY SUBMITS COMPROMISE PROPOSALS.(Common Agricultural Policy)
September 26, 2008... The initial suggestions submitted by the EU Presidency in the framework of negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) health check' will be discussed by agriculture ministers on 29-30 September. They aim to relax the provisions...

PURCHASE OF FOODVEST BY LION CAPITAL AUTHORISED.(Brief article)
September 26, 2008... The European Commission cleared, on 18 September, the acquisition of Foodvest by Lion Capital, both of the UK. Lion Capital is a private equity investor, in particular controlling Vaasan & Vaasan, which is active in the manufacture of bakery...

AGRICULTURAL LAND : RESTRICTIONS ON LAND SALES TO FOREIGNERS TO REMAIN IN EU7.
September 26, 2008... Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will be able to continue restricting the acquisition of agricultural land and forests by non-nationals. In a mid-term review, the European Commission nonetheless...

SODEXO-SOFINCO JV CLEARED.
September 26, 2008... The European Commission granted clearance, on 11 September, to the joint venture between Sofinco, belonging to the French group Credit Agricole SA, and Sodexo Pass International, belonging to the French group Sodexo SA. Sofinco is a consumer...

EU/CROATIA : ZAGREB UNVEILS NEGOTIATING POSITION ON AGRICULTURE.
September 26, 2008... With a deadline looming on the horizon, the Croatian government has intensified work on the EU accession dossier in order to be able to open all remaining negotiating chapters by the end of this year. At one of the first post-summer sessions in...