Agreement Reached on EU Agricultural Policy

Over the last week, European countries have come to an agreement over the future direction of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Much of the agreement centres around a redistribution of the funds to support the newer members of the European club – largely based around the Baltic.

The redistribution will allow for higher direct subsidies to some of the countries such as Latvia and Estonia, which will be receiving more from the European cash pot while other longer established members of the EU such as the Netherlands and Belgium will be paying more and receiving less to balance the books.

There is also a shift in the emphasis of the CAP with more stress being place on rural development.

In Spain last week, the European poultry meat processing sector put forward a vision of a sustainable industry during the meeting of AVEC.

WWF UK's Senior Food Policy Advisor, Duncan Williamson, explained that a more balanced Western diet would not only be more sustainable from the environmental point of view but also both cheaper and more healthy for consumers.

In Australia, the processing sector has developed a new livestock welfare certification system to help processors meet good welfare practices and standards.

The ‘Australian Livestock Processing Industry Animal Welfare Certification System’ or ‘AAWCS’ is an independently audited certification program used by Australian livestock processors to demonstrate compliance with the industry best practice animal welfare standards titled the ‘Industry Animal Welfare Standards for Livestock Processing Establishments Preparing Meat for Human Consumption’.

The AAWCS, launched at the AMIC Conference last month, covers all animal welfare activities at a participating livestock processing establishment - from arrival of livestock at the establishment to the point of humane processing