Private storage aid (PSA) for pigmeat will be put into effect “early in the New Year” according to European farm commissioner, Phil Hogan (pictured above).
He told this week’s council of farm minister’s meeting in Brussels that PSA for pigmeat will “hopefully” be agreed on December 2, allowing it to come into effect early in 2016.
An official European Commission (EC) summary of the council meeting also mentioned pigmeat in relation both to the poor state of the current market and the slowness in making progress concerning negotiations with Russia over the country’s sanitary embargo on certain EU pig products.
The EC’s market comment was that while the dairy sector seemed to be improving, the situation concerning pigmeat appeared to be “getting worse and worse”.
On the Russian sanitary embargo issue, the EC responded to a Belgian delegation request for a “follow-up” on recent negotiations with Russia.
Many member states supported the request, underscoring that a breakthrough on this issue would alleviate the difficulties the pigmeat sector is facing now.
The EC responded by saying that it “intended” to continue working with the Russian authorities, seeking possible openings for exports from Europe for pigmeat products which are only under sanitary embargo.