In the wake of a vote this week on new EU rules for aid to fruit and vegetable producer organisations, farmer representative and agri-cooperative bodies Copa-Cogeca have called on European ministers to ensure producer organisations are properly supported to enable them to have a fairer share of retail prices.
The call comes after the EU management committee for the Single Common Market Organisation (CMO) voted this week on EC proposals concerning regulation 1580/2007 for the application of the Common Agricultural Policy for fruit and vegetables, due to be implemented after 2013.
The new format is expected to define certain production processes as 'primary processing', introducing new coefficients designed to help calculate the appropriate level of assistance for individual product categories.
'Copa-Cogeca reaffirms that the new rules for calculating the Value of Marketed Production – which serves to determine community support for producer organisations – constitute a step in the wrong direction as they reduce the financial support to POs strongly engaged in the process of valorisation of their members' production, although we acknowledge the efforts made by the European Commission to try to find a reasonable agreement on this very important issue, which was addressed by the European Parliament as well,' said Cogeca president Paolo Bruni.
'If after 2013, the EU wants to guarantee food security in the sector, the EU Council must make sure that producer organisations, which are engaged in the primary processing of fruit and vegetables, are fully supported in their efforts to enable producers to have a fairer share of the retail price,' he noted.
Mr Bruni warned that farmers market returns were being squeezed due to the buying power of processors and supermarkets, with the share of retail price dropping from 31 per cent to 24 per cent in 10 years.
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