Copa & Cogeca welcome support to extend EU milk package beyond 2020

By Jim Cornall

- Last updated on GMT

Copa & Cogeca said that extending the EU milk package beyond 2020 will help farmers.
Copa & Cogeca said that extending the EU milk package beyond 2020 will help farmers.

Related tags Milk

Farming and cooperative group Copa and Cogeca has welcomed EU Farm Ministers’ support to extend the EU milk package beyond 2020, stressing that the package helps farmers.

The milk package focuses on strengthening contractual relations between farmers and processors to improve producers’ position in the food chain and enable them to get a better market return.

In a meeting with the Maltese Presidency, Copa vice-president Henri Brichart supported its extension beyond 2020.

Brichart said dairy farmers have suffered recently, and contracts under the package help reduce the impact of market volatility and give producers some predictability.

‘Remain vigilant’

However, the EU milk market has improved since the crisis last year, and EU milk prices have been rising since August 2016. Butter prices have reached historical records.

Brichart called on the EU Commission and Minsters to remain vigilant as the markets are still fragile and it takes time for producers to recover their cash flow.

Copa & Cogeca said it counted on the Commission to continue with its prudent approach when it comes to pushing skimmed milk powder stocks back onto the market in order to prevent the markets from deteriorating and ensure sufficient recovery of farmers’ cash flow.