The plan involves 22 measures divided across four main areas: transparency, promoting quality, investing in research and structural reform. The measures were decided after Peeters called on actors involved in the sector – farmers, government, researchers, slaughterhouses, food processors, retail and banks – to come together with ideas. Over the course of six days a plan was formulated to make the sector “competitive, profitable and sustainable,” Peeters said.
Over the next two years, a premium of €100 will be paid out for every piglet of the Piétrain breed, the typical “Flemish pig”, said Peeters. A code of good slaughter practice will be produced and the grading system simplified. The “practice centre” for the pork industry, which will provide information for anyone involved in the sector, will receive a subsidy of €140,000 a year, and €2 million will be spent on extending research facilities relating to the industry. Finally, the Flemish Agricultural Investment Fund (VLIF) will see its budget increased by €2.5 million for 2012.
The parties involved have agreed to set up a permanent and ongoing negotiation arm. “This action plan is not an end to the matter, but a good beginning,” Peeters said. “The pig farming industry will continue to be what it has always been: one of the cornerstones of the future of Flemish agriculture.” Pig farming accounts for one-quarter of all agricultural production income in Flanders, with a value of €1.3 billion a year.
VEVA, the association representing pig farmers, criticised the plan for not paying enough attention to the farmers who have suffered most through the crisis. “Over the last four years, the heaviest burden has been carried by the first link in the chain – the farmer himself,” commented Geert Wallays of VEVA. “From this wine bottle of measures, only a few drops are to go to the part of the industry that is having the most problems.” Farmers have argued for price support.
The General Union of Farmers (ABS) echoes the statement. “A lot of long-term measures have been announced, but there are few points in there that will ease the burden on the suffering farmers in the short term,” said a spokesperson present at the launch ceremony.
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