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MEPs back fairer returns for farmers

Xinhua, July 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

The European Union (EU) must do more to help farmers earn a fair return for their produce, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) said Tuesday.

Voting in favor of two non-binding resolutions, MEPs called for better tools for dealing with market disturbances and help for farmers in finding new outlets for produce shut out of the Russian market.

EU member states should also help them join forces in producer organisations to boost their bargaining power, the Parliament added.

"There are many long-term opportunities for the EU's dairy sector but the European Commission (EC) has so far failed to recognise the scale of new challenges it has to face, such as the end of milk quotas, the recently-prolonged Russian embargo on EU foodstuffs and price volatility," said British MEP James Nicholson, who drafted the milk resolution and steered the so-called Milk Package through the Parliament in 2012.

"To tackle these, we must use existing tools more effectively, but the EU must also do more to help its dairy sector become a global leader and not a global follower," he added.

Portuguese MEP Nuno Melo, the rapporteur on a fruit and vegetable resolution, stated: "We must encourage growers to join producer organisations so as to increase their bargaining power, strengthen their position in the food supply chain and thus improve their incomes."

"It is also essential to increase their competitiveness and tackle unfair trading practices. Furthermore, the EU must help its farmers find new outlets for their products and facilitate exports," said Melo.

Farmers in a number of EU countries, including France, Germany and the Netherlands, have recently staged protests about their plight, including what they see as low prices for produce paid by big supermarket chains.

MEPs insisted that the EU must aim for a better balance in the food supply chain to give farmers a better return. Among the proposals is a call for legislation to tackle the perceived unfair trading practices in the retail market.

Diversifying export markets to help EU producers withstand the prolonged Russian ban on imports from the EU is another demand. Endit