16 June 2011

Evidence collected by the NFU from individual member businesses, Producer Organisations and marketing organisations shows total losses for growers to date from the E.Coli crisis stands at around £2.5 million and the situation is worsening. image expired

“There have been unprecedented falls in wholesale market prices as a huge influx of surplus cucumbers, lettuces and tomatoes from the EU have flooded British markets. Some growers are now beginning to question how much longer their businesses can sustain such big losses.”

EU Agriculture Commissioner, Dacian Cioloș has offered €210 million of EU funds to partially compensate the huge losses of producers as a result of the E. coli outbreak. Member State representatives were due to vote Tuesday (14th June) on the Commission’s compensation package proposals, which are set to come into force by the end of the month.

Ms Pettitt continued, “We want to make sure that Government is clear on the full extent of the impacts on British growers and ensure that they get their fair share of any compensation package that is available to them.

“We’re in discussions with the RPA and Defra regarding the practicalities of implementing the Commission’s compensation package proposals. Most importantly, we want to identify the simplest process possible for British growers to make potential claims for compensation.

“In the meantime our on-going message to consumers is buy British, and look for the Red Tractor on the food you buy to guarantee that it has come from farms that are independently inspected to the highest standards of quality, hygiene and traceability.”

France: La lutte continue

Meanwhile, the French government continues to put pressure on Brussels to review the amount of aid set aside for European farmers whose businesses have been affected as a result of the crisis. The aid package, which went through the European parliament yesterday, proposes €210 million compensation for farmers whose produce was left unsold.

A member of French Agriculture Minister Bruno LeMaire’s office revealed that France would continue to seek more compensation for a wider range of producers from more member states. LeMaire himself announced that France was “in the process of mobilising its European partners in order to secure more aid money and a more simplified distribution.”