The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development adopted the report by Esther HERRANZ GARCÍA (EPP, ES) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on information provision and promotion measures for agricultural products on the internal market and in third countries
The committee recommended that Parliament’s position in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission position as follows:
Objectives: the committee clarified that Information provision and promotion measures provided for by this Regulation should pursue the following objectives:
· increasing the market share of Union agricultural and food products, with a specific focus on the markets with the highest growth potential;
· providing information to consumers on the high standards that Union products are required to meet, arising from application of the common agricultural policy (CAP);
· increasing the competitiveness of Union products and raising their profile both within and outside the Union;
· restoring normal market conditions in the event of serious disruption to the market, loss of consumer confidence or other specific problems.
Measures on the internal and third-country markets: while the Commission proposal made a distinction between measures that could be embarked upon within the internal market and those that could be run in third countries, the report proposed retaining just one classification for measures that may be financed both within the European Union and outside it.
Information measures should aim to:
· stress the specific features of agricultural and food production methods in the Union, particularly in terms of food safety, quality, labelling, traceability, sustainability, social standards, cultural traditions, taste, nutritional and health aspects, animal welfare or respect for the environment;
· highlight the intrinsic characteristics of agricultural and food products.
Promotion measures should aim to:
· increase sales of agricultural and processed food products based on Union agricultural products.
· protecting the authenticity of protected designation of origin, protected geographical indication and traditional specialities guaranteed.
Eligible products: Members introduced cotton to the list of eligible products. Wine with designation of origin or protected geographical indication status and wine carrying an indication of the wine grape variety should be eligible for information and promotion measures.
Fishery and aquaculture products may only be the subjects of information and promotion measures in third countries under certain conditions.
With regard to food products based on agricultural products, priority should be given to products for which the Union origin of the raw materials was demonstrated.
Financial provisions: Members proposed that the Union's financial contribution to simple programmes should be at least 75 % (rather than 50%) of the eligible expenditure. They deleted the provision regarding increasing this to 60% for a simple programme targeting one or more third countries and for information and promotion measures on fruit and vegetables specifically targeting children in Union educational establishments.
The percentage contributed by the Union in the event of a serious disruption to the market, loss of consumer confidence or other specific problems should be at least 85 %.
Technical support services: Members specified that the services developed by the Commission should encourage awareness of different markets, including the financing of exploratory business meetings, maintaining a dynamic professional network around information and promotion policy, advising and assisting operators in regard to protecting their products from imitation and counterfeit products in third countries.
Report: by 31 December 2017, the Commission should an interim report on the application of this Regulation, including the rate of uptake in different Member States, together with any appropriate proposals. At the European Parliament's request, the Commission shall present the interim report to the responsible committee.