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The Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mr Petros Xenophontos, attended the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting held in Brussels today.
The Council discussed the situation of the EU agricultural market and trade with Ukraine. The debate was introduced by Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi, describing the very difficult situation in which the country and Ukrainian agriculture have found themselves since the Russian invasion. Member States referred to the impact of the invasion on their own markets and asked the European Commission to propose measures to address this impact. In his intervention, the Minister reiterated Cyprus' support for Ukraine, noting, however, that unilateral measures create undesirable effects on the EU's internal market. He also highlighted the problems of the primary sector in Cyprus, stressing the very high increase in production costs affecting all farmers and asked the Commission to elaborate measures to support farmers, providing the necessary flexibility to member states in order to support the production sector.
Subsequently, Portugal, France, Italy and Spain provided information on the impact of adverse climatic conditions on their territory in the hydrological year 2022. The Minister expressed Cyprus' solidarity with the residents of the affected areas, noting that our country also faces extreme weather events with increased frequency and intensity. He noted the need to support agricultural production in these areas as well as in member states facing similar problems. Mr Xenophontos requested that halloumi be included in the list of products that can be exported to Australia duty-free. He also noted that a future revision of the list of Geographical Indications should include flagship products of Member States that strengthen the local agricultural economy.
(B]PIO[/B]
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