Quality Package and Agricultural Policy after 2013: AREPO’s Plenary Meeting in Brussels boosts the efforts in support of PDO and PGI products. “The regulation of the production of hams with a designation of origin and other processed products should also be possible.” said Mr. Tiberio Rabboni, President of the Association. The MEP Iratxe García Pérez, during her speech at the GA has also expressed support for producer organizations.
The development of the quality package, which includes major developments in the protection of the consortia and the development of PDO and PGI products, should be followed closely before the vote expected in april. So says today in Brussels the Minister of Agriculture of Emilia-Romagna Tiberio Rabboni, President of the Association of European Regions for Products of Origin. “The management of the offer has been proposed only for the production of cheeses with denomination of origin in the milk package – said Rabboni in his speech at the plenary session of the association – while PDO and PGI in other sectors should also be considered. We know that many northern European governments are against this possibility. We asked them to reconsider their position, not only because that differential treatment between the cheese and other processed products is unacceptable and incomprehensible to the producers and the general public but because the regulation of the production of unique products does not adversely affect competition with other productions.”
The MEP Iratxe García Pérez, rapporteur for the quality package in the European Parliament, who recently was appointed shadow rapporteur of a part of the future CAP, recalled his motivation and priorities. The European Parliament’s political groups support her proposals, including the issue of volumes management. Many proposals were made to reach an agreement with the Council. But if the Council does not want more changes, the text will move to second reading, since the Parliament will adopt its position as currently proposed. It is proposed that this instrument can be adopted, “at first, for storable products particularly sensitive to the risks of imbalance between supply and demand, such as hams with designation of origin”.
AREPO’s position is in line with the Parliament’s one and completes the other proposals and amendments submitted for the regulations on the CAP after 2013 with the objective of recognizing quality productions, and achieving a greater level of resources and support tools. In this regard, AREPO’s Assembly also requested the inclusion of different criteria for the distribution of the agricultural budget among the Member States, including parameters related to the value of production and job creation as a corrective measure to the sole criterion of surface of the farms proposed by the European Commission.
