The move comes after a €28m support package for milk producers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania also crippled by the ban was approved. This package is the latest in a series adopted by the European Commission in response to the Russian crisis.The support comes in the form of a financial envelope for each of the countries.
Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said “I welcome this as a good step forward to help compensate Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Finnish dairy producers whose main export market has been lost, with prices not covering production costs. The economic loss for the Finnish dairy sector for example is estimated at 130 million euros annually. And although the package is a welcome signal it will only cover one third of losses suffered by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania producer and a fraction of the losses in Finland. Targeted action is crucial for those worst hit by the ban. The whole of the EU agriculture sector has been hard hit by the ban, especially the EU dairy, pigmeat, fruit and vegetable and beef sectors. It will be crucial to find new market outlets for the produce like in the emerging economies and remove sanitary barriers and other unnecessary obstacles to trade. Export promotion is also important”.
