Copa-Cogeca has urged the EU to take further targeted measures, including in relation to the pigmeat, to prevent the agriculture sector from collapsing altogether as a result of the Russian ban on farm exports.
While acknowledging the help already given to fruit and vegetable and dairy producers, Copa president, Albert Jan Maat, said the current crisis was not the fault of the EU agriculture sector yet they were the ones left “paying the price for it”.
Calling for additional funds to be made available, from outside of the Common Agricultural Policy, he said that promotion campaigns were needed to stimulate fresh demand, red tape needed to be cut and non-tariff barriers to trade had to be tackled.
Speaking specifically about the pig sector, he said: “Since we normally export 24% of the total value of EU pigmeat exports to Russia, this sector has been suffering for months from the ban.
“Action must be taken to improve the situation, in particular for specific products like fat and by-products. Promotion campaigns for pigmeat must also be set up.”
Copa-Cogeca is the umbella organisation for EU farm unions and co-operatives