Starting in 2016 VLAM can count on European support for the domestic milk campaign and an export program for fresh fruit and vegetables. Europe is financing half of the program, which means VLAM is bringing in a total of 2.45 million Euro in subsidies. Last week Europe approved 33 promotional programs. 20 of these programs want to promote the consumption of agricultural products on the European market, and 13 programs want the export to countries outside the EU to be broader. By providing these subsidies Europe wants to put the focus on products that have been affected by recent problems in the market. VLAM can also rely again on European subsidies; two of their programs were approved, one for dairy and the other for fresh fruits and vegetables.
For fresh fruit and vegetables VLAM is putting extra effort into export promotion. Currently there is a program for developing countries with European support. The approval of the new program allows VLAM to create a nice follow-up for distant markets. In addition to the destinations that VLAM has previously worked with, like North America, Japan, Russia and the Middle East, the new program will also be placing attention on Kazakhstan and India over the next three years. 1.15 million Euro was budgeted for this program, with Europe once again providing half of that budget.