March 3, 2011

 

EU agricultural officer settles dairy reforms issues

 

 

European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos has cleared several issues of his proposed dairy reforms to give farmers increasing power in the marketplace.

 

He was responding to concerns voiced by MEPs Jill Evans and Alyn Smith.

 

Smith said a degree of ambiguity had crept into the legislative plans since their publication in December.

 

Ciolos has said farmers will be able to demand contracts with supply specifications from the processors.

 

There will be no exclusivity with the contracts. Farmers will be able to sell their milk to different processors if they want.

 

Smith welcomed the clarification, saying everything that had been published so far from the commissioner had been on the right lines to addressing the imbalances in the milk market, adding, "This (the commissioner's response) could not be clearer and puts my mind at ease that the eventual legislative proposal will do much to tackle the shameful imbalances that have existed for too long in this sector. I look forward to seeing this report in the European Parliament, and commend commissioner Ciolos for his work so far."

 

The plans from Ciolos aim to end the alleged abuse of power by milk processors throughout the EU.

 

He wants written contracts between processors and dairy farmers that set out explicit supply terms and which give producer organisations the ability to negotiate contract terms for up to 3.5% of all of Europe's milk and 33% of national production to give farmers more strength.

 

Ciolos wants the contracts to include details of price, timing of deliveries and duration. Member states will be given the option to make the contracts compulsory, while dairy co-operatives will be excluded from the legislation.

 

Where states do not make the contracts mandatory, farmers will be given a right to demand contracts from their processors.

 

Meanwhile, NFU Scotland has said it has received various assurances from MEP Jim Nicholson on the report he is drafting to the European Parliament on the milk sector. He is intending proposing a similar legal framework, which could give milk producers enough power to negotiate with processors for a sufficient return on their produce.

 

NFU vice-president Allan Bowie said, "The ability of producers to negotiate fair contracts, particularly with relation to elements regarding a pricing mechanism and the volume contracted, is absolutely key. Recent comments from commissioner Ciolos suggest he is adamant that the milk market must change significantly, the changes must come soon, and certainly before 2013. Short-term issues are paramount from Scottish producers' perspective."

 

Bowie said transparency, contracts and giving producers power were important and the hope was that all would feature in Nicholson's report.