September 26, 2007

GM policy hurts EU feed and livestock producers

The European Feed Manufacturers' Federation (FEFAC) on September 25 urged the EU Farm Council to take immediate steps in accessing livestock farmers to feed materials.

Although FEFAC President Pedro Corr¡§ºa de Barros welcomed the proposed decision to eliminate set-aside for the new crop season, he stressed that this measure is not enough to address the present acute shortage of feed materials for the EU livestock population.

He noted that the only way out to cover current market needs are additional imports of energy-rich feed materials which range from 15 to 25 million tonnes. However, access to imports is severely restricted due to the present EU's ban on genetically-modified (GM) crops.

Corr¡§ºa de Barros warned that "the current EU GM policy will cripple the EU livestock industry. Livestock producers in third countries will be able to use the GM crops not yet approved in the EU to feed their animals and will increasingly sell their products of animal origin to EU consumers at a lower price compared with EU operators".

He stressed that the systematic slowdown of GM approvals in the EU combined with a strict zero-tolerance policy for the presence of non EU-approved events has already resulted in the loss of 4 million tonnes of CGF (corn gluten feed) and DDGS (dried distillers grains with solubles) that the EU used to import for years from the US. The FEFA chief said CGF and DDGS are staple feeds mainly for cattle in the "Atlantic" EU countries (Ireland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK) and their substitution has artificially inflated feed prices in the EU

He said further feed price hikes in the EU, which livestock farmers may not be able to pass on to consumers, must be expected in the new marketing year, if traces of newly authorized GM events in export countries appear in the supply of soy meal to the EU, before they obtain full EU approval.

Corr¡§ºa de Barros asked Farm Ministers "to take their political responsibility to avoid strangling the EU livestock industry." He said it is the EU Farm Ministers' task to sustain EU's feed and food security by accelerating the EU GM approval process while setting a workable threshold for technically unavoidable presence of GM crops that have been approved in exporting countries but are pending approval in the EU

The planned EU CAP health check can meet its objective of market-orientation and competitiveness only if the EU livestock sector is on a level playing field with third-country operators, which is also in the interest of their main suppliers, the EU grain producers.