Malta's agriculture 'needs support'

The European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer Boel, said yesterday she fully understood the argument Malta was making to retain its status as a less favoured area in the European Union, which entitles the country to the highest level of agricultural funding.

"Now I understand why your minister made a strong argument for Malta to be considered as a less favoured area. It is necessary for the EU to support Malta's agricultural sector," Ms Fischer Boel told reporters at a press conference not long before the end of her short visit to Malta.

The Danish commissioner, a former agriculture and fisheries minister, said first-hand experience of the islands gave her a better understanding of the challenges facing the local agricultural industry.

Arriving on Thursday, Ms Fischer Boel visited the newly refurbished milk-processing plant of the Malta Dairy Products, which she said should be a model for the entire industry, and met representatives of farmers' and herdsmen's organisations in both Malta and Gozo and paid a visit to wine-makers. The commissioner was also taken on a helicopter ride for a quick view of agricultural land from above.

"Competition from outside the EU will increase in the future," Ms Fischer Boel warned, explaining that the possibilities of agriculture in the EU had to be seen in the context of countries in North and South America, and South Africa, which were emerging exporters of produce.

Malta needed to retain its agriculture even though this contributed to only around three per cent of the GPD, the EU commissioner said.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had told Ms Fischer Boel earlier yesterday that agriculture was not just about productiveness but also about sustainability and about "retaining the beauty of the Maltese countryside".

Asked if she thought it possible for Maltese agriculture to survive without state aid or the EU's financial assistance, the Commissioner said the Rural Development Policy of the EU was aimed at substituting direct payments with funds which served as an incentive for farmers to undertake education and develop entrepreneurship. The funds, therefore, would not only be aimed at balancing farmers' earnings but mainly at making the industry economically sustainable.

Ms Fischer Boel however acknowledged that the Maltese agriculture sector needed temporary safeguards to ensure sustainability. The Commission had accepted that Malta should retain its general safeguard clause for five and not three years.

George Pullicino, Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said the European Commission had already declared that Malta could retain its status as a less favoured area till 2010, but Malta was making a case to preserve the status beyond that date.

The minister said Malta fully supported the reform undertaken by the EU Commission in the sugar regime. Access to competitive prices of sugar was important because of local producers of sugar-based products, such as soft drinks, jellies and powdered drinks, which were exported to the Middle East and Africa.

Mr Pullicino thanked Ms Fischer Boel for understanding Malta's justification on excess sugar stocks.

Earlier this year, the Commission had said Malta had imported 20,400 tonnes of extra sugar, raising concern that this was done as a speculative measure. A regulation issued prior to enlargement had stipulated that speculative stockpiling of agricultural products was prohibited as this would disrupt the balance of the EU market. Malta risked a fine of more than €10 million.

The commission accepted the government's justification that the sugar had been imported by a big company involved in the manufacture of powder for instant drinks and that the firm did not resell its stocks on the local market.

Mr Pullicino said that Malta was against statements made by EU leaders that rural development finances should be reduced, as this would have a negative effect on local industry.