Highlighting drastic squeezing of farmers' incomes, particularly for small-, medium-sized and family farms in today's European Parliament debate on farm input and food supply chains, Portuguese GUE/NGL MEP João Ferreira said problems such as greater concentration among large-scale producers and increasing speculation on the global food market required a total rethink of agricultural and trade policy and the single market.

"Its essential we reverse this negative trend towards centralisation of food production. We need to encourage local production, reduce transport, introduce strong measures against the kind of dumping we've seen in dairy sector, and ensure a fair distribution of value right along the food chain".

"Maximum limits must be applied for the profit margins of big buyers and supermarkets and monitoring systems should be brought in for prices charged by retailers and big distribution companies" he said, calling for a quota system adapted to each country.

"These measures are crucial not just for Europe but also for developing countries for reasons of environmental sustainability and economic and social development."

The GUE/NGL group has submitted an oral question to the Commission on transparency and fairness in the food supply chain which seeks significant increases in farmers' bargaining power and demands that the Commission tackle ‘big buyer’ abuses in the food supply chain.

GUE/NGL Press Contacts:

David Lundy +32 485 50 58 12

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20

david.lundy@europarl.europa.eu

gabrielle.kavanagh@europarl.europa.eu

European United Left / Nordic Green Left

European Parliamentary Group

www.guengl.eu