Latvian farmers achieve favorable EC decision for vegetable growers

In its new regulation on support conditions for vegetable growers affected by the Russian embargo crisis, the European Commission (EC) has taken into account the proposal of Latvian farmers to add cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli to the existing list of compensable vegetables, and in addition, farmers will now be able to apply for support at the member state level, rather than the EC, as was previously planned.

Member of the Latvian Agricultural Association and the ZSA, head of the CS "Mūsmāju dārzeni" Edīte Strazdiņa: "I assess this EC decision very positively. Not only because the inclusion of these vegetables in the list is very important for Latvian vegetable growers, but also because this case proves that if the requirements are presented to Europe in a reasoned manner, they are taken into account! Cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli were forgotten in the initial support offer. It is a pity that the responsible officials of our industry missed their opportunity to convince Brussels that these vegetables are important for us, but here we – Latvian farmers – came to the rescue. It was we who managed to convince Brussels that support is needed, which is a great satisfaction.”

The support for the fruit and vegetable sector adopted today to mitigate the effects of the Russian Federation's food embargo also includes support for cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli. The support granted to Latvia is limited to 3,000 tonnes for the fruit and vegetable sector for destruction or distribution without compensation.

As previously reported, Latvian farmers' non-governmental organizations sent a letter to the EC Commissioner calling for the addition of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower to the list of supported vegetables and emphasising that the fruit and vegetable sector has always called on each European Union (EU) member state to introduce its own compensation "package", rather than applying the first-come, first-served principle so that countries would compete with each other for EUR 125 million in support at the EU level. Only in such a situation, if this "package" is not used in full in one of the member states, would it be redistributed to others. In order to mitigate the impact of the price drop, the previously abolished EU-set limit, which provides for the application of support for the withdrawal from the market of no more than 5 % of the production placed on the market, should be temporarily restored at the member state level. The Baltic States, with their small domestic markets and large producers in their neighbors, are very sensitive to overproduction in their neighbors, so it is important for Latvian farmers that the EC supports all producers whose future farming is threatened both directly and indirectly due to the embargo. The dairy farming and fruit and vegetable production sectors are the hardest hit by the Russian food embargo.