Useful meetings in Strasbourg - Allister
05 September 2006
Jim Allister MEP today led a delegation from the dairy sector in Northern Ireland in meetings with Trade Commissioner Mandelson and Agriculture Commissioner Fishler-Boel. The delegation consisted of Sir David Dobbin and Mr Harold Hamilton from United Dairies Ltd, Mr John Thompson and Mr Jackson Wright from the UFU and Mr Paul Archer from Dairy UK.
Speaking after the meetings Jim Allister said:-
"These were positive meetings. First, I want to congratulate the representatives of the industry for the cogent and persuasive way in which they made their case. I've no doubt that both Mandelson and Fisher-Boel now clearly understand the life-threatening impact precipitative cuts in export refunds on whole milk powder have had on our dairy industry.
With the WTO talks stalled there is now an opportunity to restore stability and confidence to the market. This can be done by restoring some of the lost ground in export refunds, which will improve the farmgate price. With such refunds due to be wholly removed by 2013, this would give time for the industry to redirect its output into markets other than milk powder. Here the Government must meet its responsibilities with capital aid to restructure the industry. The Republic of Ireland is already doing so. We can't let them steal our natural market in GB.
This is an unfinished task. We will now be furnishing the Commissioners with documentation to substantiate the case and need for action. In particular we will be looking for an increase in the export refunds to stabilise the market.
We also took the opportunity to lobby Commissioner Fishler-Boel on modulation, the need for regional variation and the necessity of an extension till the end of 2008 for implementation of the Farm Nutrient Management Scheme."
Notes to Editors:
The dairy industry is the largest sector of Northern Ireland agriculture. We produce 15% of the UK's liquid milk; with only 2% of the population, clearly, we are reliant on exports. Our primary export in recent years has been whole milk powder, which we sell to African and other countries. The trade in milk powder has been made viable by export refunds payable under EU trade arrangements. These refunds have been cut by 50% in the last 2 years, pursuant to CAP reform and as scene-setting for the WTO negotiations.
These cuts have been so savage that the farmgate milk price has been depressed to the point where the industry is under immense pressure. The Commission needs to ease up on the refund cuts and allow the market to stabilise while the industry is restructured to find different outlets for our product.
