Allister welcomes announcement on export refunds
15 January 2009
Jim Allister MEP has said he welcomes today’s pledge by the European Agriculture Commissioner to re-introduce export refunds for butter, cheese and whole and skimmed milk powder, along with other market support measures to assist the dairy industry.
The MEP said,
“While I regret it has taken the Commission until now to appreciate the severity of the fall in milk prices, I do acknowledge that the measures being proposed will provide some much needed comfort for producers and processors alike in these difficult trading conditions.”
“Since October, I have been pressing the Commission of the need to utilise support mechanisms to deal with the very serious downturn in the World dairy market, and to avoid complete meltdown in the EU dairy industry. On Tuesday past, I again raised my concerns with Commissioner Fischer-Boel -that the intervention ceiling would be deeply insufficient on its own to deal with the scale of the problem when it re-opens on 1st March. I am pleased this has been acknowledged by the Commission in its recommendations.”
“While I welcome the Commissioner’s announcement, there are still some unknowns, not least a lack of clarity on the level at which export refunds are to be introduced.
I have secured a meeting with Commissioner Fischer-Boel early next week, at which I will be seeking clarification on a number of these points.”
ENDS
