Report of the Agricultural Market Task Force
Strengthening the position of farmers in the food supply chain is of vital importance to the Council and is one of the presidency´s political priorities. Today, ministers broadly welcomed the recommendations of the agricultural markets task force and the Presidency is committed to link this piece of work with the preparation of our Council conclusions at the December meeting."
Gabriela Matečná, Minister for agriculture and rural development of Slovakia
Ministers were briefed by the Commission on the results of the work of the agricultural markets task force and its final recommendations.
The task force's report includes a series of recommendations on how to improve the position of farmers in the food chain in relation to, among others: market transparency, risk management, trading practices, access to financial instruments and futures markets, contractual relations and competition. The report also addresses the problem of unfair trading practices and the possible introduction of European-wide baseline legislation to limit this phenomenon.
Ministers welcomed the report and expressed continued commitment to improve collaboration along the food supply chain and to strengthen the bargaining position of farmers. The issue will be discussed again at the December Agriculture and Fisheries Council with a view to defining the position of the Council on this matter.
Study on the impact of concessions in free trade agreements on agricultural products
The Commission presented to the Council the results of its economic study on the cumulative effects of concessions made in the context of free trade agreements on the EU agricultural sector.
The study covers 12 future trade agreements on the agri-food sector and their impact on producer prices and production volumes for a range of products accounting for 30% of the value of the EU exports in the sector. The results of the study highlight that significant gains can be anticipated for the EU dairy and pig meat sectors, but also show that there could be risks for the beef and rice sectors.
In the debate that followed the presentation, ministers expressed the need for balanced trade agreements that respect the vulnerabilities of some EU agricultural sectors.
The Presidency concluded that the Council intended to closely scrutinize the result of the study and would return to it at its Agriculture and Fisheries meeting in January 2017.
Source: consilium.europa.eu
