According to a presentation of the Head of the G-2 Wine, Spirits and Horticultural Products Unit of the General Directorate of Agriculture, Joao Onofre Antas Gonçalves, the main challenges of the fruit and vegetable sector are: reducing domestic consumption; crisis management measures; improving the producer's position in the food chain; the CAP 2020 and the Brexit. Antas Gonçalves spoke at an event organized by the MAPAMA on Thursday in Madrid called "The importance of the Common Organization of Agricultural Markets for the fruit and vegetable sector in Spain."
Regarding crisis management measures, Antas Goncalves said that the Russian veto had resulted in an extraordinary expenditure of the community's budget, 440 million euro, and that subsidies due to the Russian veto would end next year. He also stated that the European Commission didn't support adopting exceptional aid packages when there were emerging crises and that they preferred to integrate this type of aid among the measures for crisis management, included in the specific regulation of the fruit and vegetable sector. He said the exceptional aid represented a parallel aid system, which didn't help to strengthen the measures for crisis management within the framework of the OCMA.
According to the representative of the Commission, another challenge for the sector was improving the producers' position within the food chain, which has had an influence in the Agriculture Commissioner's firm intention to adjust the chain, even though there isn't a common position given the strong opposition from other areas.
Regarding the common agricultural policy post 2020, the head of G-2 unit of the General Directorate for agriculture stressed that there was a great interest in the reform and that the Commission had received more than 320,000 contributions for the public consultation, which concluded on May 2. He summarized the timetable for the reform, stating that after the Commission analyzes all the contributions received, they will hold a conference to present the query results on July 7, and that they expected to present the proposals at the end of this year, after completing the analysis of the measures.
Finally, João Onofre Antas Goncalves, said the Brexit was one of the most important challenges for the fruit and vegetable sector, as there is great uncertainty about how the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU output will affect the Community's budget, as this country is a big contributor, and what the conditions to access the British market will be.
FEPEX valued the presentation by the European Commission representative highlighting its clarity and content.
Joao Onofre Antas Gonçalves, spoke on Thursday, May 4, at the conference on "The importance of the Common Organization of Agricultural Markets For the fruit and vegetable sector in Spain," which was organized by MAPAMA.
Source: fepex.es