Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Costas Kadis attended the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting held yesterday in Brussels. The Ministers discussed, inter alia, the situation of agricultural production in Ukraine, the sustainable use of plant protection products, the agricultural aspects of the Industrial Emissions Directive and the issue of food labelling.
The challenges facing agricultural production and the supply chain in Ukraine were presented by the Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine, Mr Mykola Solsky, who attended the meeting in person. The support for Ukraine from EU Ministers was universal. Mr Kadis referred to the importance of producing and exporting food from Ukraine, particularly for those states whose food security depends on imports. Referring to the operation of the Solidarity Strips, the Agriculture Minister said that this was an important EU success, which was making a substantial contribution to stabilising international grain prices. Their operation should not only be continued but also strengthened, he said. In this context, Mr Kadis expressed Cyprus' readiness, if necessary, to make available to the European Commission the grain storage silos at the port of Limassol. He also stressed that Cypriot shipping is ready to actively participate in the "Black Sea Grain Initiative", once, of course, the obstacles set by Turkey are removed. On this point, he asked the European Commission to make the necessary representations to allow Cyprus to contribute to this important action for global food security. During his intervention, Mr Kadis made special reference to the dire economic situation of farmers in Cyprus, stressing that the uncontrolled increase in energy, feed and fertilizer prices further exacerbate the problems.
Cyprus, together with 13 other Member States, supported Lithuania's proposal to extend the temporary support framework through state aid to support the primary production sector in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
An important part of the meeting was devoted to the discussion on the reduction and rational use of plant protection products, in the context of the "Farm to Plate" strategy. The Minister agreed with the general philosophy of the initiatives undertaken at European Commission level and stressed the need to provide flexibility in the use of plant protection products in the Member States, based on their own data and capacities. At the same time, he stressed the need for measures to be taken, together with a reduction in the use of pesticides, to safeguard satisfactory food production in the EU and the sustainability of agriculture.
Regarding the agricultural aspects in the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive, in his intervention the Agriculture Minister said that, based on the proposal under discussion, Cyprus will be very much affected - especially the cow sector - as the number of livestock farms that will have an additional burden will increase sixfold, resulting in higher production costs. He therefore called for measures to be taken, such as the possibility of additional funding and an increase in the implementation period of the Directive.
The Agriculture Ministers also attended an informal working lunch, during which they had the opportunity to exchange views on the European Commission's initiative on food labelling. In his intervention, the Minister of Agriculture, inter alia, noted that consumers' demand for country of origin labelling on food should be met, which will help to promote the products of EU Member States.
In the margins of the Council's proceedings, Mr Kadis had a meeting with the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Ms Stella Kyriakidou. The meeting discussed the Commission's initiatives concerning food labelling and the rational use of plant protection products. Mr. Kadis thanked the Cypriot Commissioner for the planned technical assistance to Cyprus on the issue of plant protection products and the reduction of the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, and presented Cyprus' positions on these initiatives.
The Minister's programme in Brussels concluded today, with his participation in the High Level Ministerial Meeting on African Swine Fever, organised at the initiative of the Cypriot Commissioner.
(MF/MB/SX)
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