Farmers welcome EU offer to help in wake of Russian ban
Russia’s ban will be for one year and will cover imports of meat, fish, milk and milk products, fruit and vegetables from the European Union.
Ireland’s agri-food trade with Russia is less than 2.5% of the country’s total exports from the sector.
But Agriculture, Food and Marine Simon Coveney said this belies the importance of the Russian market in terms of its future potential.
He said the obvious preference is for a normalisation of trade relations. But these issues cannot be viewed without taking into account the overall political context
Copa Cogeca, the umbrella body for EU farmers and agri co-ops, initially predicted that the damage to Europe’s agriculture and food sector would be much bigger than the €400 million available in the Common Agricultural Policy crisis fund.
It pointed out that this situation was not the fault of the agri-food industry but international politics. Yet, the sector was being hit the hardest.
Copa Cogeca said the support that will be needed should therefore not be financed out of the CAP budget only, but also from other funds.
The respective presidents Albert Jan Maat and Christian Pees warned it was unacceptable that the EU agriculture sector was bearing the burden of the Ukraine/Russian crisis.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said he understands the concern expressed in the EU farming sector.
“I want to underline that the Common Agricultural Policy has new and modernised tools to stand by them, as soon as it is needed, including our crisis reserve, which is already available now.
“I am confident that our resilient farm sector will reorient rapidly towards new markets and opportunities.
“But there must be support to help this transition happen smoothly. This requires a joined up European response,” he said.
Mr Ciolos said he had instructed his services to establish a task force to analyse the potential impacts sector by sector, and to assess how the EU can effectively provide meaningful support if needed.
Meanwhile, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association president Patrick Kent has warned processors that the Russian ban on imports cannot justify any price cuts for beef.
“The reality is that the export ban will have minimal impact on Irish exports. To a large extent, the ban impacts most on east European countries and primarily affects pigmeat and dairy products.
“Farmers need to take a tougher line on beef price as the beef throughput remains under 30,000 a week and the reality is that beef supplies are likely to tighten in the medium term,” he said.
