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The Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mr. Andreas Gregoriou, participated in the work of the EU Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers, which took place on February 21 in Brussels.
The Council discussed the problems faced by EU Member States in relation to the situation on the agricultural products market, due to increases in the prices of animal feed, fertilizers and energy. In his intervention, Mr Gregoriou said that rising production costs, the impact of the pandemic and the decline in demand were creating major problems for the sustainability of food production in the EU. He informed that in Cyprus, the non-recovery of the tourism and catering industry, as well as transport costs due to its geographical location, create further problems for Cypriot farmers and livestock farmers. He also informed about the state aid plans that Cyprus has promoted to mitigate the problems and support the income of the affected agricultural and livestock sectors.
The importance of strengthening the coherence between the Green Agreement of the Common Agricultural Policy and the EU's trade policy to support the transition to sustainable food systems was also discussed. Speaking during the discussion, the Director-General of the Ministry of Agriculture agreed on the importance of aligning the three EU policies to support the sustainability and production standards of EU agriculture. At the same time, he stressed the need to evaluate all possibilities to align third countries with EU standards and pointed out that, in this context, there should be compliance and harmonisation with World Trade Organisation rules. The strengthening of labelling and the promotion of EU production methods can be tools for the implementation of the EU's ambitious objectives for the environment, consumer protection and international trade policy, he concluded.
The "27" also exchanged views on the Proposal for a Regulation on the availability on the EU market and export of products associated with deforestation and forest degradation. Mr. Gregoriou expressed Cyprus' support in relation to the Proposed Regulation and stated that the priority should be the protection of old and primary forests that maintain high carbon stocks and have a multi-functional role for the environment. He also stressed that the adoption of effective measures for the protection and restoration of the world's forests is of utmost importance. Finally, he referred to the need to tackle phenomena such as drought and fires, which also endanger the existence and sustainability of forests.
In the context of the Council's work, Cyprus supported the initiative of Austria and Germany on ensuring a fair income for EU farmers and food security in Europe. Cyprus' support was also expressed to Spain and Portugal to address drought and to the initiative of the Netherlands in relation to the granting of exemptions for free range eggs as a result of the avian influenza situation in the period 2021-2022. Finally, Cyprus supported Denmark's paper on the inclusion of EU legislation on the sale and keeping of dogs for commercial purposes.
IK
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