Copa-Cogeca welcomed in Brussels today the EU Commissions’ plans designed to improve the functioning of the EU food supply chain as a step in the right direction, but warns that much stronger measures are urgently required to ensure that producers and cooperatives position in the food chain is strengthened.

Copa-Cogeca argues that the growing disparity between producer and consumer prices has reached such a point that it is vital for the EU institutions to take tangible action. The EU food market is dominated by large retailers and farmers share in retail food prices is continuing to be eroded. EU politicians must consequently rapidly step up their efforts to take action against the imbalances of power in the food chain.

Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen insisted “We want measures to facilitate and promote the concentration of supply to make sure that farmers can have a better position on the market. We need action to support and encourage farmers to fully use their cooperatives potential. We need measures to address the problems of late payments, market abuses and distortions of competition in the food chain. These are some of the necessary conditions to ensure a smoother running of the food chain and fairer competition. In turn it would enable farmers to obtain a fairer share of the value added”.

Copa-Cogeca welcomes the Commission’s Communication as a step forward. It also welcomes Euro-MPs latest proposal to create a “European Farm Prices and Margin Observatory” to report upon the gap between the prices consumers pay for food and the price the farmer receives. The gathering of credible data is needed as a first step to addressing the imbalances in the food chain. Copa-Cogeca has been asking for some time for the setting up of a monthly monitor of wholesale and retail prices of food, the farm-retail price-spreads and the share of agricultural raw material. Copa-Cogeca consequently welcomes the adoption of this amendment by European Parliament and calls for it to be set up as quickly as possible. More action is however required in order to put an end to the large imbalances in the food chain.

Amanda Cheesley

Press Officer

Copa­-Cogeca

WWW.copa-cogeca.eu

Tel. : + 32 (0)2 287 27 90

Mobile +32 (0) 474 84 08 36

Amanda.cheesley@copa-cogeca.eu