The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has presented 43 proposals to professional agricultural organizations -Agrarian Association of Young Farmers (Asaja), Coordinator of Farmers and Livestock Organizations (COAG) and Union of Small Farmers (UPA) of measures that, according to the ministry, respond to the main concerns expressed by farmers and ranchers in the mobilizations held during the past month.
The set of 43 proposals is grouped into seven blocks: simplification and flexibility of the CAP; issues relating to cross-border trade in agri-food products; strengthening chain law enforcement; improvement of the agricultural insurance system; fiscal, financing and labor measures; support for animal health and extensive livestock farming; and strengthening policies to facilitate generational change in coordination with the autonomous communities.
Regarding the simplification of the CAP:
- Flexibility measures are included in the application of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions.
- Farms with less than 10 hectares of surface area, 55% of recipients of CAP aid in Spain, are exempt from controls.
- The criteria for the application of ecoregimes are made more flexible and simplified.
- Measures are adopted to encourage the application of the digital exploitation notebook, which becomes voluntary.
- It is proposed to the European Commission to eliminate the obligation to present georeferenced photos with aid applications to demonstrate the state of the crops.
- The application of the royal decree on soil nutrition is made more flexible.
- The principle of single inspection is established, in coordination with the autonomous communities, to prevent the same farm from being subjected to more than one in a year.
- The date is extended for the obligation to have a comprehensive health plan on farms and for the electronic identification of bovines.
Certain requirements of the bovine management decree are made more flexible.
Issues relating to international trade in products:
- The Government undertakes to defend in all community forums that trade agreements with third countries include the application of mirror clauses so that imported products are subject to the same production conditions that the EU requires of its Member States.
- Among the measures proposed by the ministry includes a commitment to require imported foods to have a zero residue limit for products not authorized in the EU.
- The reinforcement of border controls on imports and the establishment of a permanent working group with agricultural organizations to monitor imports and exports is contemplated.
Animal health and extensive livestock farming
- The ministry will provide financing for expenses allocated to the campaigns of the action plan against tuberculosis that cannot be covered by community funds and for veterinary expenses derived from the fight against emerging animal diseases, such as epizootic hemorrhagic disease.
- In the first half of April, the forum on extensive livestock farming will be established to analyze the main problems and challenges that affect this type of production, both health, economic and profitability.
More information on the page of the Ministerio.
Other informations
- Anafric a favor de la defensa y supervivencia del sector agrícola y ganadero
- La ganadería en España sufre una situación de «colapso burocrático», según UPA
- Piden una «excepción ibérica» en Europa para la agricultura y ganadería de la zona mediterránea
