Minister Bozukov: direct payments are an essential instrument that must continue to be applied

At a meeting of the agriculture ministers in Brussels, the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Prof. Dr. Hristo Bozukov, stated that he firmly opposes double standards in the production of goods in the EU. With regard to the Common Agricultural Policy, Bulgaria approves the continuation of direct payments in the next programming period as well.

At the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the European Union in Brussels on 6 March in Belgium, the agriculture ministers discussed the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, the agricultural administration reports. The Minister of Agriculture and Food, Prof. Dr. Hristo Bozukov, stated that for Bulgaria direct payments are an essential instrument that has proven its effectiveness and must continue to be applied. This type of support contributes to stabilizing the income of farmers, and its continuation after 2020 will be an additional guarantee for achieving a flexible, competitive and sustainable agricultural sector in the EU. For Bulgaria, production-linked support is extremely important because it allows for addressing specific regional problems, contributes to the production of safe and high-quality products, to the creation of jobs and to retaining the population in rural areas.

The issue of unfair trading practices in the EU food supply chain was also discussed at the meeting. The Minister emphasized that these practices can be stopped only through a common regulatory framework to limit them, which includes a control mechanism at European level, ensuring fair trade in foods with quality that is specific only to a given brand. This means that all food products offered on the Single European Market must comply with identical standards of quality and safety, recognizable to the consumer.

The use of cheaper raw materials and a different proportion of the ingredients used, while at the same time offering the manufactured foods at prices equivalent to those of high-quality products, is a clear abuse of consumers’ trust in a given trademark, Minister Bozukov further emphasized.