Irish farm group rejects milk quota management proposal

The Irish Farmers Association had rejected suggestions from French and German ministers that milk quotas should be managed at individual producer level on a compulsory basis in every EU member state.

Calling the suggestion ''totally unacceptable'', the association's president Padraig Walshe said it is a step backward in the run-up to quota abolition.

The move would sacrifice EU farmers' production capacity and allow more room for competitors' increased production without any milk price guarantees, he said.

Walshe said EU ministers must focus on delivering higher levels of support to speed up the dairy recovery and help return dairy farmers to viable milk prices as soon as possible.

The supports would involve making a longer commitment to increased export refunds, lifting dairy products intervention prices and reactivating some processing aid schemes that were proven to have a strong effect on demand, he said.