The European Commission (EC) has announced the closure of private storage aid for pigmeat, saying that the scheme is “no longer justified”.
Reporting that EU member states have backed a Commission move to close private storage aid for pigmeat, an EC statement was released commenting that since the measure was introduced on March 9, 2015, EU pigmeat market prices have “stabilised” and that the weekly uptake of aid by operators has now dropped to “modest volumes”.
“In these circumstances the Commission believes that it is no longer justified to maintain this market intervention,” said the EC.The Commission also reported that during the scheme’s seven weeks, some 65,000 tonnes of pigmeat has been temporarily taken off the market (for 3-5 months) in 18 different member states.The greatest take-up was in Denmark, Spain and Germany, with smaller volumes also having been stored in Poland, Italy, Netherlands, France and Belgium. The majority of the cuts covered were boneless cuts.