In January, 40 tonnes of GMO-contaminated maize seeds were seized coming from Ukraine.Continue reading
Minister of Agriculture István Nagy held talks with Richard Takáč, Slovakia’s new Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, on Tuesday afternoon at his office regarding the market difficulties caused by the Ukrainian grain, the European farmers’ protests, trade, and animal health issues.
István Nagy said that the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy has brought new conditions, and therefore Hungary has strengthened the network of advisers and village farmers. “The efficiency of the Hungarian agricultural support system is shown by the fact that we have managed to create the conditions for paying an increased advance of 70 percent to 136,000 farmers, even under the new EU rules,” he added.
Nagy informed his colleague that Hungarian farmers, like their European counterparts, will protest against the EU agricultural policy measures. “Hungary wants more Member States to support our fight against the threat to Ukrainian agriculture in Brussels,” the Hungarian politician added.
He stressed that the possible accession of Hungary’s northeastern neighbor, Ukraine, to the EU would make it permanently difficult for European farmers to make a living, as those working within the constraints of EU regulations would not be able to compete with the hundreds of thousands of hectares of Ukrainian farms owned by global capital, operating under much less stringent rules.
In connection with Hungary’s coming EU presidency, the Hungarian Agriculture Minister also said that in the framework of the negotiations on the post-2027 rules of the Common Agricultural Policy, the focus will be on crisis management. In addition, attention will be paid to stepping up action against food waste in order to present good practices and responses to current challenges, Nagy explained.
The Slovakian counterpart also posted a video on his social media page, in which he shared his experience of the meeting.
He wrote:
We can take inspiration from the Hungarian agricultural system in several areas. In particular, on the supply of domestic products in supermarket chains.
While Slovak food makes up 40% of our food, the share of Hungarian food in chains across Hungary is up to 80%!”
The politicians also discussed Hungarian government measures to curb inflation, such as the food price freeze and the online price monitoring system. The latter initiative was aimed at stimulating competition and increasing price transparency in the retail market to meet consumers’ needs. Price reductions have been observed in a significant number of product categories covered by the price watch. The Ministry of Agriculture is also paying particular attention to the promotion of Hungarian products, Nagy stressed.
Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Nagy István