Allister responds to red meat task force report
08 October 2007
Commenting on the Red Meat Task Force report MEP Jim Allister said it was a sobering wake-up call on the plight of the industry.
He said, “The last CAP reform was supposed to create the conditions where the market would generate growth and stability. Hence, it was argued subsidies could go. What has happened, of course, is that while production subsidies have indeed gone, the Single Farm Payment, contrary to its purpose, is having to heavily subsidise loss-making producers. Since this conflicts with the purpose and promise of CAP reform, the Commission should be urgently re-assessing the position.
The greatest inhibiter of the market turning the situation around is the distortion inflicted by the twin impact of government’s cheap food policy and the multi-national supermarkets suppressing prices, but not their own profits.
The report shows that both the retailers and the processors are making money, but the producers are losing hand over fist. This staggering deficit, or subsidisation by farmers, amounts to £180 million. No industry can survive on these negative margins. Supermarkets and Government need to waken up to these realities.”
