- Profit margins in the pig meat sector are on critically low levels
- National measures and state aid are not sufficient to address the situation
- European Commission must intervene directly to ease pressure on pig meat producers
To offer strong support to the pig meat sector, the Commission must use promotional activities to open and consolidate market outlets and intervene in the market at EU level.
In a letter addressed on Friday, 28 January to the Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, the Chair of the EP’s Agriculture Committee Norbert Lins (EPP, DE) and the majority of political groups in the Committee call on the European Commission to adopt “immediate initiatives aimed to alleviate the negative situation and anticipate serious disturbances in the pig meat sector”.
In the pig meat sector, “the increasing cost of inputs, notably of feed, but also electricity and veterinary services, the excess of supply because of the drop in demand from the Chinese, due to sourcing from other regions and the negative impact of African Swine Fever on the export, have squeezed profit margins to critically low levels. The result of these effects is a higher pressure on the internal market that risks putting the resilience of the sector to an extreme test”, reads the letter.
“Furthermore, the outbreak of African swine fever in Italy earlier this month is very negative news. The situation could possibly become even worse if the export of Italian pork products, especially cured hams on third-country markets, collapses”, the Agriculture Committee Chair adds.
“Continued inaction […] would lead to further concentration of pork production in the EU and creation of centres of heavy industrial pork production with all negative environmental, climate and regionalisation effects in full contrast to our Green Deal and Farm to Fork objectives and ambitions”, warns the letter.
“Targeted national measures in the pig sector under rural development programmes and State Aid or national aid […] are not the most suitable to address the situation”, the Chair stresses.
Mr Lins therefore insists that “it is the moment for the Commission to step in with strong support to the sector via non-discriminatory and ad-hoc promotional activities, aimed at opening new market outlets and consolidate existing ones, as well as market intervention at EU level and expect that every effort has to be made to contain and eradicate the current outbreak”.
Background
Members of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee debated the situation of the pig meat sector in Europe with Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski on 10 January as part of an exchange of views on general matters. A dedicated debate on the topic with a Commission representative took place in the Committee on 25 January.
O artigo foi publicado originalmente Parlamento Europeu.