The European pig meat sector has been in the throes of a crisis for the past one and a half years.
Copa and Cogeca are calling for the urgent re-introduction of export refunds for pig meat and
hope that this will be done on the occasion tomorrow’s meeting of the Single CMO Management
Committee.

Pekka Pesonen, Secretary General of Copa-Cogeca, said, “Prices for pig meat have been falling considerably for some time now. Between December last year and February 2009 , they went down by around 10 % on average. At the same time, our main competitors’ currencies have fallen
heavily against the euro, further aggravating an already bad situation. It is essential that the EU take urgent action to stabilise the market.”

“Russia has effectively closed its market to EU pig meat”, he added. “Therefore, it is crucial that we have export refunds in place as a tool for maintaining our export levels in other key markets such as Japan and Hong Kong.”

For further information, please contact:
Lucia Zitti
Policy Advisor
Tel.: +32 2 287 27 18
lucia.zitti@copa-cogeca.eu

Simon Michel-Berger
Press Officer
Mobile: + 32 474 840 836
simon.michel-berger@copa-cogeca.eu