Organic production and labelling, the functioning of fruit/veg sector, the management of sandeel and mackerel, top the agenda of the AGRIFISH Council on 24th

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting will take place in Brussels, on Monday 24 March 2014, starting at 10:00 (CET). It will address both agricultural and fisheries matters. The Council will be chaired by Greek Minister for Rural Development and Food, Athanasios Tsaftaris.

The proposal for the promotion measures for agricultural products on the internal market and in third countries, which constitute a priority of the Greek presidency, is the first item on the agenda. The Council will hold a policy debate on the presidency compromise text. The main outstanding points are the proposed provisions in relation to EU financial assistance and national co-financing and the member states involvement in the selection procedure for simple programmes. The Presidency aims to reach agreement on the text. This proposal was also discussed in the last Agriculture Council meeting, in February 2014.

The Council will then be briefed by the Commission about its new proposal for a regulation on organic production and labelling of organic products. This proposal is based on the results of the public consultation on organic farming conducted by the Commission. The report on the public consultation, which was presented to ministers in the Agriculture Council December 2013, highlights that consumers trust organic farming.

The Commission will also present to the ministers a report on the functioning of the fruit and vegetable sector, mainly on the implementation of the provisions concerning producer organisations, operational funds and operational programmes in the fruit and vegetables sector since the 2007 reform as well as a report on the mandatory indication of the origin of meat used as an ingredient. It weighs up the need for the consumer to be informed, the feasibility of introducing mandatory origin labelling and provides a cost/benefit analysis including the impact on the single market and international trade. This report takes a specific importance with regard to the fraudulent mislabelling of beef products in the EU which was revealed at the beginning of last year. On the basis of the discussions in the Council and the European Parliament the Commission will consider what, if any, appropriate next step should be taken.

With regard to Fisheries the Council will discuss the management of Sandeel and could reach agreement on the establishment of a total allowable catch (TAC) for sandeel for 2014. The Ministers will also be briefed and have an exchange of views on the coastal states consultations on mackerel and EU/Norway bilateral consultations. The Commission will also report back to Council on the five year arrangement for mackerel in the North-East Atlantic, which was reached in London on 12 March between the EU, Faroe Islands.

Finally, under Any Other Business, ministers will be briefed on honey breakfast initiative, imports of rice in the EU, Global Forum on Family Farming, dairy sector/soft landing, Cyprus drought and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

A press conference will be held at the end of the meeting.