Anafric want to express our support for the actions that are being carried out by the Ministry of Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, specifically its highest representative, Mr. Luis Planas. We have learned that today he has requested “effective market” measures to face the Covid 19 crisis so that no “agriculture or rancher is left behind”.
Among the measures that affect the meat sector, the Ministry has asked the Commissioner of Agriculture of the European Union, Janusz Wocjciechowski, private storage, one of the urgent measures that we have requested from Anafric and the rest of the insterprofesionales of the sector such as Interovic and Provacuno.
This measure, endowed with financing, would not solve but would alleviate the serious crisis that the sector is already suffering, as it is deprived of sales from the HORECA channel, which, especially for sheep and goats, represent 80% of its annual sales.
But from Anafric we propose other measures of immediate application and that the Ministry would have to develop:
- Activate private storage aid (freezing) for sheep and goat meat and noble pieces of beef.
- Opening of public intervention purchases based on the current and future situation of beef cattle (cows) and sheep-goat meat.
- Direct aid to the producer sector (feedlots) for its maintenance and maintenance for a longer period than usual or to reduce the supply of calves for fattening and sheep and goats.
In this sense (direct aid), Anafric gives an example of the mechanism established by Regulation 1308/2103 of the European Union, whose article 221 “establishes aid to solve specific market problems, as has already happened with the aid to Irish beef by the impact of Brexit in 2019 ”.
Aid for the post Covid-19
Anafric also asks the Minister to be “broad-minded” and look at how the sector will be in the post Covid-19. That is why we have asked for decisive and firm support for the opening of strategic markets in third countries, such as the Chinese market and other Asian markets, on the one hand: to continue facilitating meat exports to current markets; launch a tax incentive program for the entire chain of the meat sector and, finally, carry out a campaign to consume the national product and promote national tourism.
From Anafric we give again the maximum confidence to our political representatives, but knowing that we will be doing our follow-up work. Hundreds of thousands of families depend on it. We cannot fail them
