Attempt to rebalance food supply chain

By mid-November farmers and the food industry will have a better idea of what the European Commission is prepared to do to tackle unfairness in the food supply chain.

The farm commissioner, Phil Hogan, has confirmed that on November 14 he will receive the final report from the high level group he established.

He will then discuss the report the next day with farm ministers, before deciding what parts to turn into a firm proposal for action. This has the backing of the European Commission president, Jean Claude Juncker, who has promised action next year, but legislation would face opposition from retailers and some member states.

The agri-markets task force was set up to look at practical ways to make the food chain work more fairly and to improve the competitive position of farmers. It was chaired by the former Dutch farm minister Cees Veerman.

It had its remit extended once, but will hold its final meeting on Thursday, before handing its report to Hogan.

The European Commission appears to have secured a facesaving deal to keep its planned trade agreement with Canada alive.

Known as the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (Ceta) this was blocked by a regional parliament in Belgium, which prevented the ratification needed by all 28 EU member states.

The commission has now offered concessions to Belgium in respect of agriculture, over fears of a surge in Canadian imports. This means it has effectively bought a deal, with promises of compensation for losses by farmers.

This underlines the unwieldy process of the EU securing trade deals, because they can be blocked by a single member state. It also underlines how the farming lobby in Europe can seek to block a deal it views as a threat – pressure that will not be there in the UK after Brexit.

It has also emerged that next year the EU will open trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand – a decision that will make it more difficult for the UK to make progress on two trade deals it is keen to conclude in preparation for Brexit.

European Commission auditors have called for further improvements to the Land Parcel Identification Scheme (LPIS), saying that while it is a good way to manage the eligibility of land for direct payments, there are still flaws in management by member states.

This will add to pressure on the commission to be tougher – although the question not asked was whether the problems highlight the complexity of the LPIS rules, rather than failures by member states. Much of the criticism was directed at how greening is implemented.

The criticism was based on a survey in a number of member states and regions. Scotland was part of that survey.

The criticism came despite a significant reduction, to 2.2%, in the error rate for direct payments.

The EU has managed to improve its import/export balance of trade for food and agricultural products.

In the eight months to the end of August exports were worth around 84 billion euro, while imports were 74 billion.

This is being seen as positive by the commission, which is pushing for a greater reliance on market success and less dependence on support.

The US remains the EU’s biggest export market, while Brazil tops the league of importers.

Picture: Getty. Jean Claude Juncker is the president of the European Commission.