Uncommon agreement dominated the extraordinary hearing of experts in the EU Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on the new market measures to reduce the volume of milk (25/05)

The invited representatives of the producer organisations European Milk Board and Via Campesina, along with the association of co-operatives COGECA – as well as numerous representatives of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development – advocated a rapid reduction in the volume of milk on a European level.

Severe criticism was aimed at the Council and the Commission: the 500 million aid package had fizzled out completely. Instead of earmarking these funds to reduce the volume, they had pumped the money into the sector aimlessly. Simply “twiddling thumbs and hoping for a miracle” was not enough to stabilise the sector, said MEP James Nicholson. Similarly the measures adopted in March by the Council for Agriculture were manifestly unlikely to encourage the member states to implement a reduction in volumes.

Call for a European solution and financial compensation for producers

The tenor of the meeting was that a common European solution was lacking. EMB President Romuald Schaber: “We in the European Milk Board are for a voluntary restraint on supply compensating less production with 30 cents a kilo from EU funds.” With such backing the measure could function on a voluntary basis and would have a swift impact. The financing was not a problem, because if the intention was to cut the volume of milk by 3%, as calculated by the EU Commission, the funds required would equate roughly to the total of the super-levy in the last two years of the quota system. Via Campesina, on the other hand, called for a compulsory reduction in volumes, but likewise stressed the necessity of financial compensation for the producers.

The lively discussion in the well-attended hearing room made it very clear that in view of the disastrous market situation no more time was to be lost, and instead the job had to be done properly at last.

With all the criticism levelled at them, Joost Korte from the EU Commission and Minister Van Dam representing the Council also had to concede that now something had to be done quickly. Van Dam announced new measures for the next summit of the Ministers of Agriculture that could possibly be financed with further money from the Crisis Fund.

Adam Siekierski, Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, summarised the hearing’s demands: “We call on the Council and the Commission to take measures based on Article 222 to reduce volumes and back them up with funding”. This he intended to present at the next plenary session and to demand from Commissioner for Agriculture Hogan.

EMB press release

Video on Hearing "New exceptional market measures limiting milk production

(Romuald Schaber's statement  0:50, replies: 2:20)

Overproduction in Europe is casting a shadow on Africa: Milk powder exported at dumping prices puts local production under significant pressure as more and more consumers reach for these cheap imported products. Local milk producers can therefore no longer live off their work.

Two of our member organisations are currently supporting African dairy farmers very actively.

Burkina Faso: a fair label for local milk

Belgian milk producers (MIG) have been working with West-African dairy farmers in Burkina Faso for many years now. Currently, MIG, together with Oxfam, is supporting a micro-dairy in Ouahigouya (which we reported on in February). Belgian and African milk producers are also working together to create a fair label for milk from Burkina Faso. "Fairefaso" is aiming to position itself as a sign of quality on the market - as a symbol for fair milk prices for producers.

Detailed visit report by Erwin Schöpges (DE, FR, NL)

Micro-dairies in Bittou and Fada: Support for women dairy farmers

Oxfam-Solidarité also supports other micro-dairies in Burkina Faso, such as the one in Bittou, in south-eastern Burkina Faso. The goal is to provide lasting reinforcement to local women milk producers, who have to compete with cheap imported milk powder. Within two weeks, enough money has been raised through crowdfunding to modernise the small dairy in Bittou, among others by buying new equipement which will ensure quick and hygienic milk processing and packaging. These women dairy farmers are also working towards the "Fairefaso" label in order to improve the position of their milk on the local market.

The crowdfunding initiative will be running until the end of June. Additional funds will benefit a second micro-dairy in Fada which is facing similar problems to the one in Bittou.

You can support the micro-dairy in Fada through funding until the end of June - thank you! 

Zambia: A dairy for Kasisi

The Swiss association BIG-M has provided financial support for helping build a micro-dairy in Zambia through crowdfunding. This project was initiated by a Swiss employee at a training centre for small-scale farmers in Kasisi, who wanted to set up a dairy on a farm. Funding of 15,000 Swiss francs (about 13,500 euros) will cover the setting-up of a milk processing room as also the purchase of a centrifuge, a pasteurizer, a generator, a water storage tank, a boiler and other utensils necessary for milk processing.

Current contributions stand at 13,600 francs. You can contribute to the project till mid-July.

Video describing the project (in German)

Regina Reiterer, EMB

Negotiations on the planned trade agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA) were concluded in September 2014; up until a few weeks ago, judicial examination was ongoing in both Canada and the EU and the agreement is now ready for ratification.

The Council of the European Union will deal with the CETA as of June this year, and a vote is expected in September at the earliest. This will be followed by a vote in the European Parliament. It seems likely but is not yet fully clear if the European Commission will present CETA to the Council as a mixed agreement. This would mean that a vote on CETA would be held in each Member State as well. In such a case, experts expect that the European Commission will propose so-called provisional application - something that would not only be undemocratic, but would be highly sensitive as well.

Recently, the Netherlands voted against the provisionally-applied trade agreement between the EU and the Ukraine in a referendum. The government of Wallonia, one of the three regions in Belgium, stated that they would not approve CETA and most recently, it has also been turned down by the Foreign Minister of Romania. Just a vote on such contentious trade agreements can be a point of conflict. And the content even more so. Agricultural trade between Europe and Canada as foreseen by CETA would affect the fragile milk market in Canada, while the meat market in the EU would come under fire.

Customs duties at 245.6% currently protect the Canadian milk market from cheap imports. Canada has an active volume control system for the milk market. Producers pay a fine for every surplus litre of milk. While the price paid to producers in Canada is based on milk production costs and has been almost 48 cents/kg in the last ten months, the European milk price, in terms of international competition, fell to a drastically low 29.3 cents/kg in February. The politically envisaged export orientation - the preparatory work for such trade policy - has completely destroyed the milk price for European producers. If CETA were to be ratified, the Canadian market would also come under immense pressure. Currently, cheese from the EU is exported to Canada using a customs-free tariff quota. CETA would double this quota from 13,472 tonnes to 31,072 tonnes, together with an additional 1,700 tonnes of industrial cheese. This would mean that almost 8 percent of Canada's national demand for cheese (425,400 t) would be covered by the European dairy industry. The cheap EU prices attack the higher Canadian milk prices that actually ensure the livelihood of farmers. The EU industry is expected to be able to fulfil the customs-free tariff quota very easily.

Terry Boehm, a Canadian cereal farmer and past President of the National Farmers Union, says, "Our volume control system is a trading chip in every trade agreement. The Canadian government is going down the path of liberalisation, but continues to protect volume control because a number of dairy farmers live in Quebec and Quebecois votes are important for elections in Canada. Nonetheless, every negotiation makes a dent in the volume control system."

CETA is only a first taste of what would befall agriculture through TTIP. These negotiations began in June 2013 but it is already clear that in terms of the milk market, there will not be only one-sided exports by the EU - one can expect an exchange of blows that will significantly shake up markets on both sides of the Atlantic. According to the latest study by the US Department of Agriculture in November 2015, the abolishment of tariffs would increase EU imports from the US to USD 150.78 million for butter and USD 76.31 million for cheese. The value of cheese exports from the EU would rise to USD 325.35 million. However, an important precondition for growing exports is that milk, the raw material, is very cheap - and currently things are very much to the liking of the export industry.

Berit Thomsen, Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft (AbL)

On June 30, the already third European Fair Milk Conference will be held in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg.

For several years now the European Milk Board has been drawing attention to the necessity for cost-covering milk prices with the slogan "Fair Milk".

Together with Fairkoperativ Lëtzebuerg we want to bring together the dairy farmers, retail trade, consumers and politicians to point up the importance of fairly produced milk.

Fair Milk products are currently marketed in six countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Luxembourg). The programme includes inter alia a presentation of Fair Milk projects in these countries. This year again, the “Golden Faironika” will be awarded for special services to sustainable milk production.

Programme Fair Milk Conference