Food Wise targets must be met to avoid fines

Commissioner says agricultural sector must step up to the plate

IRISH agriculture will need to “step up to the plate” if it wants to achieve Food Wise 2025 targets and avoid the environmental penalties in the national CAP action plans post-2020, Commissioner Phil Hogan warned.

Addressing the Food Wise 2025 Conference yesterday, the European Agriculture Commissioner said that Ireland is at serious risk of incurring significant fines under the new CAP post-2020 reforms if it doesn’t meet targets.

“The agricultural sector urgently needs to step up to the plate and deliver more when it comes to meeting targets. Clear and measurable targets will be built into the national CAP action plans and failure to meet them will result in penalties,” he said. He added that Ireland is one of only four countries in Europe where greenhouse gas emissions are still above 1990 levels and that we should adopt a sense of urgency if we want to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and avoid hefty fines.

“A failure to tackle the issue could cost the country large sums of money in relation to carbon credits by 2020. We are sleepwalking towards further EU fines under the renewable energy directive by our lack of investment in the energy grid.

“The risks of failing to address the environmental challenge are not abstract — they are real, and they can be counted in hard currency,” he said.

He pointed out that we should view the example of the Netherlands where 50,000 cows were slaughtered in the last year due to a phosphate problem as a “cautionary tale” and that Ireland needs to wake up to its role in tackling the climate challenge if it wants to avoid a similar situation.

“The Dutch dairy industry has been dealing with a phosphate problem for the past 12 months which resulted in the slaughter of 50,000 cows.

“They are currently negotiating their derogation under the Nitrates Directive — a derogation which is worth up to €1bn to the Dutch dairy industry,” he said.

Commissioner Hogan and Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed agreed that meeting our Food Wise targets, which include increasing exports to €19bn and creating 23,000 additional jobs in the food supply chain will depend on compliance with CAP targets.

Minister Creed announced that he is launching a public consultation on the future of the CAP in 2018 to outline how best we can meet Food Wise aims, while also meeting CAP targets.

“I want to launch a public consultation in Ireland on the future shape of the CAP, taking account of the broad parameters laid down by the Commission in its communication.

“I want your views on how we can configure a future CAP to meet the development and sustainability objectives of Food Wise.” IFA president Joe Healy added achievement of Food Wise targets will depend on the outcome of current Brexit talks.

“This strategy and the targets it sets were agreed prior to Brexit. The outcome of Brexit will define the future of Irish farming and the agriculture sector.

“The future of the entire agriculture sector to 2025 and beyond is at stake. The Government needs to hold the line and work to achieve a solution where the whole of the UK stays in the single market and the Customs Union or a similar arrangement.”