February 8, 2022

 

France to set up roadmap aiding domestic swine industry

 

  

France is working with the domestic swine sector to define a concerted roadmap, in which all stakeholders commit to helping the industry overcome an ongoing crisis and set structural and transformational objectives.

 

The French swine industry is currently facing the largest price decrease and cost increase in the last 30 years due to the impact of COVID-19 and the emergence of African swine fever in Europe.

 

The price paid to a producer has now dropped by 14% in one year for the average farm while costs have risen by 27%. Losses in the sector are reaching unprecedented levels, with nearly a quarter of pig farmers having reached critical thresholds of short-term debt that no longer allow them to meet current expenses or benefit from additional short-term bank loans. At least 30% of French pig farmers risk going out of business by 2023.

 

The French government has announced a rescue plan for a total amount of up to €270 million (US$308.5 million), which includes, among other aspects:

 

    - An emergency aid of up to €75 million (US$86 million) in the form of a check for an amount of 15,000 for pig farms with severe cash flow difficulties. This aid will be deployed within fifteen days;

 

    - A structural aid backed by a commitment to contract under Egalim2, for a maximum amount of €175 million (US$200 million), which will complement the compensation for losses on pig farms, according to criteria and modalities to be specified in consultation with professionals.

 

At the same time, the approved roadmap includes a set of transitional provisions such as:

 

    - At the European level, the continued mobilisation of other EU member states to alert the European Commission to the pig market situation and request the activation of European measures for this sector. These measures are absolutely necessary to get the market unblocked;

 

    - The launching of promotional campaigns, if necessary in conjunction with other European countries;

 

    - The continued mobilisation of the National Initiative for French Agriculture (INAF) mechanism (a public loan guarantee for €100 million, or US$114.3 million, of allocated credits, €1 billion, or US$1.1 billion, of loans are created);

 

    - The reinforcement of biosecurity measures against the risk of African swine fever.

 

This roadmap also includes strong structural measures to strengthen the sector's resilience to crises:

 

    - The commitment of all actors, from producers to distributors, to accelerate within one month the implementation of Egalim2 and, in particular, the contracting of upstream links in the sector (from producers to slaughterhouses via producer organisations), accompanied, as required by law, with indexation clauses and taking into account production costs to better transmit their evolution along the food chain;

 

    - Various measures to support the opening of export markets (research and opening of new markets).

 

- Ministry of Agriculture and Food (France)