MINISTER FOR Agriculture Brendan Smith has arranged a meeting with EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel because of his concern at the state of the dairy market.
The Minister, who spoke to the commissioner late last week, said in a statement that the short-term outlook for the industry was “extremely difficult”.
He said he had spoken to the commissioner to emphasise his concern about the state of the market and to press for immediate market support. Saying he would meet the commissioner soon, Mr Smith said that allied to the correction to the markets due to historically high prices in 2007 and early 2008, there was the further complication of the credit crunch.
“These two, in combination, have placed an enormous burden on the dairy sector and have caused a slump in demand as a consequence,” Mr Smith said.
The statement said the Minister noted the commission’s early introduction of an aid scheme for private storage of butter and the commitments made regarding intervention for butter and skim milk powder from this week and the reinstatement of export refunds in recent weeks.
“The levels at which refunds and intervention function will be critical to the speed at which we emerge from the current slump,” he said.
“We are at a critical period in the market and as supplies come on stream in abundance in the next few months, I strongly believe we need a multiple track approach – a short sharp utilisation of the full range of market management measures – to get the market back to equilibrium” he said. This could be achieved, he added, if export refunds were competitive and when the limits of butter and skim milk powder allowed into intervention were reached, if the tendering arrangements in place remained relatively attractive.
Mr Smith said he urged Ms Fischer Boel to avail of the option to introduce support for the use of skim milk powder in animal feed and for the production of casein.
He said he had also discussed the dairy market situation with French agriculture minister Michel Barnier, who expressed concern and agreed to support the Minister’s initiatives at EU level.