WEBSITE
 
SOCIAL MEDIA

05.09.2024

Industries: Agroalimentar

Updates | Agrofood | August

 

Highlights of the next meeting of the European Parliament’s AGRI Committee

On 4 and 5 September, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) will adopt its opinion on the EU’s general budget for 2025.

MEPs will debate pesticide residues in food, African swine fever, wine policy and the use of the agricultural reserve for emergency support for farmers in some member states, including Portugal.

They will also analyse the activities and results of the European Mechanism for Preparedness and Response to Food Security Crises for 2022-2023.

 

Presidents and vice-presidents of the PECH Commission

María Carmen Crespo Díaz (EPP, ES) has been elected Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries.

At its constitutive meeting on 23 July 2024, the committee also elected its vice-presidents Sander Smit (EPP, NL), Giuseppe Milazzo (ECR, IT), Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew, FR) and Jessica Polfjärd (EPP, SE).

The chairman and vice-chairmen together form the bureau of the parliamentary committee, elected for a period of two and a half years.

 

Portuguese MPs on the AGRI and PECH parliamentary committees

The following are members of the AGRI Committee: Paulo do Nascimento Cabral (PSD – PPE Group), André Rodrigues and Marta Temido (alternate) (both PS – S&D Group).

Paulo do Nascimento Cabral (PSD – PPE Group), André Rodrigues and Sérgio Gonçalves (alternate) (both PS – S&D Group) and António Tânger Corrêa (alternate) (Chega – Patriots for Europe Group) sit on the PECH Committee.

 

Next informal meeting of EU agriculture and fisheries ministers

The Hungarian Presidency will organise an informal meeting of agriculture ministers in and around Budapest between 8 and 10 September 2024.

In addition to the meeting, a series of programmes are planned to showcase Hungarian culture and gastronomy.

On 8 September, the ministers and their delegations will be welcomed with a cruise on the Danube and an opening dinner at the Hungarian House of Music.

On 9 September, during an all-day programme at the Lázár Equestrian Park in Domonyvölgy, the delegations will learn about Hungarian equestrian traditions and in the evening there will be a gala dinner with a cultural programme at Pesti Vigadó.

The meeting will end on 10 September with an initial debate on a post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy centred on farmers Towards a competitive, crisis-resistant, sustainable, farmer-friendly and knowledge-based future European agriculture, in the Várkert Bazaar conference room.

 

 August MARS Newsletter

According to the August edition of the European Commission’s JRC MARS bulletin on crop monitoring in Europe, yield forecasts at EU level have been revised downwards for almost all crops, due to exceptionally hot conditions in the south and excessive rainfall in the north.

Summer crops in much of southern, central and eastern Europe were severely affected by exceptionally hot conditions combined with limited water availability.

Winter crops in northern and north-western Europe experienced an excessively wet end to the season.

Yield forecasts at EU level have been revised downwards for almost all crops and are now lower than the 5-year average for most crops.

(see Documents and studies)

 

Emergency brake applied to honey imports from Ukraine

From 21 August until 5 June 2025, Ukrainian honey imported into the EU will be covered by the tariff quota of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) in force since 2016 between the two parties.

The automatic reintroduction of this tariff quota is the result of the revised autonomous trade measures (ATM), which have been in force since 6 June 2024.

The revised MCAs include an emergency brake for seven agricultural products, which will be automatically triggered if import volumes reach the annual average of imports recorded between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2023.

In the case of honey, this average is 44,417.56 tonnes. Article 4 of Regulation 2024/1392 states that once these volumes are reached, the Commission has 14 days to reintroduce the corresponding tariff quota of the FTAA between the EU and Ukraine.

Since honey imports from Ukraine since the beginning of 2024 already exceed the volumes set in the FTAA tariff quota, additional imports will be subject to MFN (most favoured nation) duties.

From 1 January 2025 until 5 June 2025, a new tariff quota will be introduced, corresponding to five-twelfths of the threshold set for triggering the emergency brake. For honey, the volume of this new quota is set at 18,507.32 tonnes.

Imports of Ukrainian honey into the EU have remained relatively stable over the last five years, averaging around 49,000 tonnes a year.

 

Monthly report on suspected agri-food fraud in the EU

The July 2024 edition of the monthly report on suspected agri-food fraud in the EU has been published.

The suspicions were gathered from 833 notifications and the vast majority fell into the categories of implicit cancellation of claims, adulteration of products and adulteration of registers.

The five product categories with the highest number of suspected frauds were: Fruit and vegetables; Dietary foods, food supplements and fortified foods; Cereals and bakery products; Herbs and spices; Meat and meat products (except poultry).

(see Documents and studies)

 

INE Monthly Bulletin of Agriculture and Fisheries for August

According to the latest bulletin from the National Statistics Institute, agricultural forecasts on 31 July pointed to an agricultural year of some hydrological normality, after two years marked by severe weather drought.

The autumn/winter cereal harvest is complete, confirming widespread increases in productivity as a result of favourable weather conditions throughout the growing season.

The abundant production of green matter for grazing has allowed livestock to be fed without the need for advance supplementation, which has balanced out the extensive farming sector.

Spring/summer crops were sown normally, with the irrigated season guaranteed in the main irrigation perimeters. However, the area of irrigated grain maize is expected to be lower than that sown in 2023 (-15%), with the fall in the price of this commodity discouraging its installation.

Spring/summer crops are developing well, although industrial tomato yields are expected to be lower than in 2023. In potatoes, low yields as a result of the cold and humidity, coupled with a reduction in area to the lowest level in the historical series, make for a bad production year.

The yields of apple and pear orchards in the West region, although higher than last year, should be considerably lower than potential productivity levels. On the other hand, the weather conditions in the southern Douro were more favourable to the good development of pome fruit trees.

In peaches, expectations of a good campaign were dashed by the rains and hailstorms at the end of June, which caused wounds and rot, deteriorating production, which is expected to be 5% lower than in 2023. Cherry production in Cova da Beira was heavily penalised by the conditions during flowering and fruit setting and, later, by the rains in May and June, which reduced quality and brought the end of the harvest forward.

The wine year was marked by intense pressure from cryptogamic diseases, which caused a reduction in production in all regions (with the exception of Trás-os-Montes, Tâmega-Varosa, Beira Interior and the Algarve) that is expected to be around 8 per cent overall.

(More information – namely on Livestock, poultry and rabbits slaughtered, Poultry and egg production, Milk and dairy products production, Fish caught, Prices and agricultural price indices – available in Documents and Studies)

Thinking about tomorrow? Let's talk today.

Manuel Durães Rocha

Partner

Conhecimento