On February 15th, a meeting was scheduled in which the leading Spanish agricultural organizations, ASAJA, COAG, and UPA, had the opportunity to personally present the sector's demands to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, following a week of protests across Spain.
“In the meeting, we are going to ask the Government to take urgent action and promote the structural reforms that the agricultural sector needs, which must be applied in very diverse areas and at very different levels,” said Diego Juste, from UPA. “The meeting will focus on 3 key areas: simplification of the requirements of the Common Agricultural Policy, revision of trade agreements with third countries, and compliance with the food chain law; although we will also be given the opportunity to present our demands, which we have made public from the start and can be consulted on our website.”
“The ultimate goal is to highlight the value of the agricultural and livestock sectors and, on UPA's part, to protect the family farming model. We cannot forget that more than 85% of farms in Spain are family-run and that, despite this being the dominant model, it is threatened both by other intensive production models and by the intrusion of investment funds in the primary sector, which have seen agriculture as a new source of profitability.”
“In that regard, we are going to ask the Ministry to promote a family agriculture law, the implementation of market management measures, and a regulation in the food chain to guarantee fair prices for producers. We also demand decisive action in relation to agricultural insurance and, above all, the activation of mirror clauses in trade agreements. What good is it for Europe to bet on increasingly sustainable agriculture if fruits and vegetables produced without the same measures are allowed to enter from outside?”
The meeting was scheduled to take place on the morning of Thursday, but at the last minute, the Ministry informed the organizations of its postponement without specifying the time when it would eventually take place, just one day after large protests were held across the country, in which producers raised their voices again to make all of society aware of a problem that, as everyone agrees, requires a solution. And the sector's dimensions justify both the concern and that solution.
According to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture itself, in 2022, the value of the Spanish horticultural production exceeded 15,860 million euros; a 3.6% increase compared to 2021 and a 9.6% increase compared to the average of the last 5 campaigns.
In fact, with an area of 1.8 million hectares in 2022, which yielded 25.3 million tons, Spain stands as the leading producer of fruits and vegetables in the EU, accounting for more than 25% of the European production. The country is also the seventh largest producer worldwide, the second largest EU exporter and the fourth largest worldwide in terms of value, after China, the US and the Netherlands.
“We fully depend on the decisions of the Ministry,” says Diego, “but what is clear is that, without the chance of making any requests, it will be very difficult for any promise made by the Government to be sufficient to call off the protests, because producers have a very clear idea of what their goals are.”
For more information:
Unión de Pequeños Agricultores y Ganaderos (UPA)
Agustín de Betancourt, 17. 3º
28003 Madrid, Spain
Tel.: (+34) 91 554 18 70
Fax: (+34) 91 554 26 21
upa@upa.es
www.upa.es