“The Hungarian and Czech Ministries of Agriculture are both committed to protecting the interests of consumers and farmers”, Minister of Agriculture Sándor Fazekas said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI following talks with his Czech counterpart, Minister of Agriculture Marian Jurečka in Brno.
“The most actual topic of discussion at our bilateral meeting was the dual quality of foods”, Mr. Fazekas said in the statement.
“It became apparent that both the Hungarian and Czech Ministries of Agriculture are committed to protecting consumers and farmers, and accordingly in the EU Agriculture Council we are representing the standpoint that the practice whereby producers are marketing products of differing quality under the same brand and with the same labelling, primarily to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, is unacceptable”, he explained.
The Czech authorities are currently conducting a comparative investigation into the contents and quality of various foods from five countries – Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – and the results are expected to be published in two weeks’ time, he indicated.
Mr. Fazekas also informed his Czech colleague about the results of previous Hungarian investigations, citing as an example the fact that the nutritional value of soup powders examined in Hungary was lower than that of their identically packaged counterparts sold in Western Europe. A comprehensive investigation of 30-35 product pairs is also being conducted in Hungary by the National Food Chain Safety Office (NFCSO), this time concerning beer, ice cream, soft drinks and various condiments, with the result expected in about a month, the Minister told his Czech counterpart.
The parties agreed to also act within the framework of the Visegrád Group (V4) to support Slovakian efforts within this field. The Czech Republic will be presenting the results of its latest investigation at the upcoming meeting of the EU Agriculture Council in July, and Hungary will follow suit if the results are available in time. The countries of the V4 will be proposing that the European Commission introduce legislation to handle the problem.
“The same is true for unfair business practices, when certain supermarket chains abuse their dominance to the detriment of farmers”, Mr. Fazekas said, adding that several internal regulations exist in this field, but despite the fact that a certain level of progress may be observed, there is still much to do to ensure that farmers achieve a fair level of income.
The third topic of discussion at the meeting was the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2020. The parties agreed that EU agriculture funding must reach agricultural producers, thus enabling them to farm efficiently and remain in rural areas, as well as supplying people with healthy foods.
“Hungary does not support the possible reallocation of agricultural funding to support the resettlement of immigrants. Farmers must receive the highest possible agricultural funding, especially following Brexit. In addition, administrative burdens relating to the CAP must also be reduced in view of the fact that practically all EU member states are struggling with this problem, Mr. Fazekas said, adding that the effects of climate change are also testing farmers to the limit. “The Hungarian standpoint is that we require a farmer-friendly CAP following 2020”, Mr. Fazekas declared. The Minister of Agriculture will be arriving home from the Czech Republic on Friday.