sou · GLB3151 · 1998-01-01 00:00:00 — An enlargement of Union without any changes to the CAP would, however, lead to a series of problems. An enlargement which maintains the current CAP would mean a rise in food prices in certain CEE countries, something undesirable from a consumer point of view. High levels of support for agriculture in these countries would also provoke an imbalance in the economy in that one sector would gain so greatly. Structural development in the CEE countries would be hampered by production quotas and efficiency would be reduced. A new Common Agricultural Policy 67 would increase dramatically. Another problem would be further difficulties in fulfilling WTO commitments. To keep the current CAP for current members but without introducing all the measures of support in Central and Eastern Europe, for example as an interim measure, would certainly limit EU budget costs, but it would also disadvantage the producers in the CEE countries and give the producers in the current European Union a major competitive advantage. This would also be in conflict with the objectives of the single market. Since enlargement to the East is an important issue, reform of the CAP is necessary. Farming land in the CEE countries is a resource and an asset for future production of food. However, the current policy means that the agricultural potential of the CEE countries is regarded as something of a problem. To help the new Member States in their planning for entry to Union it is important that a decision be taken relatively quickly on the basic points of the new agricultural policy in order to put suitable interim measures into effect. 4.2Proposals for future objectives for the Common Agricultural Policy Agriculture has a number of significant tasks to fulfil in the future both from an European Union and a global perspective. Continuing agricultural production inside Union is a necessity. A common agricultural policy within Union is a clear indication of the importance of agriculture in Union. However, the CAPs objectives are a product of the 1950s and do not tie in with the values of our day. The objectives of the agricultural policy are still largely centred on stimulation of production, despite the fact that Union is now more than self-sufficient in many agricultural products. For agriculture to be able to make best use of resources and to promote global development we consider that the agricultural policy is in need of change. The CAP should be expanded from its present regard for producers to include consumer, environmental, animal ethic and regional issues. We therefore propose the following objectives for a future Common Agricultural Policy: 68 A new Common Agricultural Policy The Common Agricultural Policy should aim to facilitate: ·a wide and varied supply of safe food at reasonable prices, In addition to these two principal objectives, the agricultural policy should also aim at ensuring that production, processing and distribution of food is carried on in such a way that: ·biodiversity is conserved and promoted, ·cultural heritage is preserved, ·a varied farming landscape is promoted, ·environmental load is minimized, ·livestock production is carried out under strict requirements for animal welfare, ·regional balance and viable rural areas are promoted, ·internationally competitive agriculture within Union is promoted. Therefore we consider that in future it will be necessary to have an agricultural policy which is common to all Member States of Union. When the objectives will be achieved is first and foremost a matter for negotiation, in which factors inside the Union and in the rest of the world must be taken into account. The proposed objectives for the Common Agricultural Policy are discussed in more detail in chapters 5-8. There is also a discussion on suitable instruments for achieving these objectives. 5.1Principal objective - safe food at reasonable prices The primary purpose of all production, food included, is to provide consumers with the goods they demand. However, food is a special case since it is a prerequisite for every individuals survival and health. Alongside the fact that we all need access to food, we make other demands on the quality of food compared with the demands we make of other goods. One basic requirement is that food should be harmless and safe to consume. To avoid the risk of health endangering food being released onto the market a precaution principle should be applied to all food. Consumers also make demands on food with respect to production methods, quality and price. However, consumer requirements vary widely within Union. In a competetive market, with good information and interacting consumers and producers, producers can be sensitive to consumer demands and adapt their production methods and quality accordingly. In a functioning market prices are determined by supply and demand. To add weight to requirements in the market, a strong consumer organization is important in pressing for urgent consumer demands. It is our belief that any future agricultural policy should be developed so that food production is driven by consumer demand in a competitive market functioning at all stages and with adequate information. One basic requirement is that all food should be safe for consumption. Consumers have demands or requirements for the food they want to purchase. We choose the food we buy owing to a number of factors such as age, income, ethical and cultural values and social conditions. Demands can apply to the food itself or to methods of production. both cases the characteristics of food can be linked to the concept of quality. Quality has to do both with characteristics which can be measured such as nutrition and hygiene, and with more subjective characteristics such as packaging, production methods, taste and values. Consumer choice of food is not only based on quality, but also on what the food itself actually costs. Availability, time and information also play a part in the consumers choice of food. Exactly what quality and what characteristics a consumer is prepared to pay for varies between consumers and how and when the food is purchased. 5.2.2 Safe food - a basic requirement The most important single characteristic of food is that it is safe, i.e. that the consumer can be sure that the product can be eaten without risk. Where food is concerned, safety has grown in importance since the range of food available is so great and the distance between producer and consumer has increased. Developments involving increased industrialisation, concentration in the food industry and new production methods, which in many cases have been beneficial, e.g. through cheaper food and wider variation, have also led to increased uncertainty as to food safety. In our changing world it is therefore important that a precaution principle should be adapted to prevent dangerous food from being released onto the market. Producers should be responsible for ensuring that food is not harmful and society has a duty to ensure that this is adhered to. There is a growing number of people who suffer from allergies. For their own safety they need to have information about the content of any potential allergy causing substances in food. There are also other types of illness which are made worse through the intake of certain types of food. As such it is not only important that food is safe on a general level, but information on ingredients, substances and additives which can cause allergic reactions or are otherwise harmful for certain groups of consumers, should also exist to ensure safe food at an individual level. Safety and quality in our food are affected by a number of factors such as hygiene, animal husbandry, additives, handling, etc. The Common Agricultural Policy is chiefly concerned with production and does not pay sufficient attention to consumer interests. Animal husbandry is important since it affects the quality and thereby the safety of our food. It is our opinion that there is good reason to tighten the existing regulations to offer better safeguards for consumer interests in quality and safety. A topical example of shortcomings in animal husbandry is the handling of the BSE issue within Union. Inside Union large amounts of antibiotics are used in animal feeds: this is prohibited in . has also been granted temporary exemption to keep this ban in force. Widespread use of antibiotics leads to increased resistance in bacteria, and this can present risks both for animals and human beings alike. Salmonella bacteria which are immune to antibiotics are an example of this. We view it as a matter of importance that antibiotics in feeds to promote growth are banned throughout Union, not just out of consideration to consumers, but also with a view to the well-being of the animals themselves. It is also important that the spread of animal diseases is prevented as this reduces the quality of food. This applies especially to salmonella, campylobacter and similar illnesses which involve risks of being passed on to humans. In so far as this cannot be commonly applied, individual countries must be given the opportunity to impose stricter regulations. Economic and technical development produces new production methods and new food additives. In recent years genetically modified food have been introduced on market. This is an example of products to which many consumers have ethical objections. As far as all types of food are concerned, especially those which are produced using new methods, it is particularly important that consumers can feel assured that no food which is harmful to health has been released onto the market. Consumers must also have access to information about new production methods. It is also important to ensure that new production methods do not have a negative effect on the environment. Member States inside Union have recently agreed on new food regulations. We shall return to this subject in section 5.2.4. 5.2.3 Other demands for food quality As mentioned by way of introduction, consumers have very different ideas about food. The choice of food which they demand is partly due to quality, which is largely based on individual judgements, and partly to price and availability. Even though many people can agree that food quality increases with food freshness, better hygiene, etc., there are many other factors involved in concepts of food quality which are of a more subjective nature. As we are all aware, opinions as to what tastes good vary enormously from person to person. In addition to taste, nutritional value, etc., there are many consumers who include production methods in the concept of quality. An increasing number of consumers are demanding food which is produced in an environmentally friendly way. There are also increasing demands for animals to be treated well and for food to be produced in an ethically acceptable way. The choice of food which consumers actually purchase does not depend entirely on quality: price also pays a major part. For example, even if consumers would prefer food produced in a certain way, they are not always prepared to pay the price for it. Consumers also have good opportunities of controlling production in the directions they would wish. There are several examples of how production has been consumer led in more environmentally friendly or ethically acceptable directions. For consumers to be able to influence what is on offer and buy the food they would like to a greater extent, they need to have information as to content, nutritional values, additives, origin, production methods and other quality factors of the food in question. Since consumer preferences are of an individual nature we consider that it is important for consumers to have access to a wide variety of food. In this way, food production will be driven by consumer demand. A competetive market with adequate information is needed if consumers are to be able to choose the food which has the qualities they require at a reasonable price. 5.2.4 Current EU instruments As we have said, the Common Agricultural Policy is mainly aimed at production of agricultural goods. The Common Agricultural Policy has resulted in regulations, rather than consumers, controlling production. It is therefore important to introduce measures which will allow consumer demand to control the supply of food to a greater extent. Moreover, there are examples of inadequate legislation pertaining to livestock, a subject which is also of major consumer interest. Questions of animal welfare are dealt with more thoroughly in chapter 7. Where food legislation is concerned, Member States have recently agreed to new legislation on so-called novel foods which requires the producer to provide a risk assessment of the entire product. This is a move away from earlier legislation which only relates to individual components and additives in food. However, for all important issues the framework of existing food legislation provides protection for the health of consumers. The new regulation implies that producers are responsible to ensure that novel foods and new food ingredients are safe before they release them on the Common Market, and also that they must label the foods to indicate if production methods or contents, etc. are new. Regulation No 258/97/EC defines novel food as food and food ingredients which have not hitherto been used for human consumption to a significant degree within the Community and which belong to a certain category. Novel foods include foods which contain or consist of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), food which is produced using new production methods, new fungi, micro organisms and algae, food which contains new substances, new raw materials, artificial proteins, etc. Food or parts of food which come under the regulation must not carry any risks for consumers nor mislead them in any way. The regulation requires the producer to label the novel foods if they contain GMOs, substances which can cause allergic reaction or substances which may attract ethical objections, and also if properties or production methods have changed. 5.3 How is consumer demand met? A wide and varied supply of food is necessary to satisfy the requirements and demands of EU consumers. The aim for consumers to be able to buy the food they want can be best achieved, in our opinion, in a competetive market with interacting consumers and producers. Such a market also creates conditions under which consumers can expect to pay reasonable prices. Consumer demand determines what food is on offer in a competetive market. The more consumers who demand certain characteristics of food, the more interest producers have in adapting their production to those demands. Through consumer organizations consumers can make their demands relating to food better known. Competition in all channels is of major significance if consumers are to be offered the lowest possible prices. liberal trade which would facilitate competition from countries outside Union would give consumers more opportunities to choose different kinds of foods. It would also mean lower prices inside Union. In a competitive situation it is in companies interests to ensure that consumer requirements are met. A competetive market gives producers greater opportunities to be flexible and to adapt their production to consumer requirements. One prerequisite for this is well-informed consumers. It would appear reasonable, therefore, for producers to have an obligation to keep consumers informed about their products. Observing the market for food we can see that the number of players in the various channels between producers and consumers, including wholesalers and retailers, is limited. In many cases there is a handful of players, or even occasional monopolies. This is true both on a national and international level. 5.3.2 Consumer needs for information For consumers to be able to buy the food they want and for producers to be sensitive to consumer wants were food is concerned, information about food is a necessity. It is not merely a question of information about food content and nutrition, but also of production methods and origin. To offer consumers the information they want is in the interests of producers, the food industry and retailers since information is a competitive tool. There are many examples from various sectors of initiative for improving product information and labelling without political interference. However, there are also examples of how withholding information can be used to gain competitive advantage. Society therefore has an important part to play in ensuring that producers label their products and that consumers are given the chance to choose the food they want. Information and competition together are prerequisites for consumers and producers to interact in the market. 5.3.3 Internationally competitive agriculture In order to provide a wide variety of safe food at reasonable prices European Union production must also be seen from a global perspective. There appear to be growing demands from the rest of the world for reform of the CAP through lower levels of subsidy. The current WTO agreement already means limited volumes of agricultural goods with The next WTO round will probably lead to new demands from other major agricultural production countries for a further liberalisation of trade in agricultural products and lower subsidies. One other factor indicating increased liberalisation is the demand for improved food supply in the world as a whole. At the 1996 Summit in the participating countries committed themselves to an undertaking to reduce hunger in the world by by the year 2015. For this to be achieved agricultural production in the developing countries needs to increase. It was agreed that the agricultural policy of many industrialised countries hampers the development of many developing countries, and therefore increased trade is an important means of achieving an optimal, sustainable use of the worlds production resources. One conclusion which can be drawn from this is that agricultural production in Union should, in the long-term, be competitive on an international scale. 5.4 What must society do? Legislation is needed to achieve the basic requirement for food to be safe. The newly-introduced regulations relating to controls and labelling of novel foods is particularly welcome. It is important that these regulations are enforced within Union, both at a common and a national level in order to prevent harmful food being released onto the market. The same thing applies to rules relating to producers responsibility for information. It would be desirable for similar rules also to be applied to non-novel foods. It is important to ensure that safety is guaranteed for existing food. The producers responsibility for information should also apply to these food. Society must legislate and ensure that rules are followed. For consumers to make demands and critical choices of food, information and education is needed. Schools, specialist training and consumer organizations have, therefore, an important part to play. By focusing their interests and joining together in consumer groups, consumers are given wider opportunities to apply pressure in important consumer issues. As discussed in the previous section, one precondition for consumers to be able to make demands and buy the food they want is a market with competition which functions in all channels. This means that the CAPs regulation of products on offer, for example in the form of production quotas, should be removed in the long run. The duty of society will be to operate a policy of competition and to ensure that competition from the rest of the world is not impeded. 6 Agriculture and the environment 6.1 Principal objective - sustainable agriculture The CAP has an effect on the agricultural environment itself and on the surrounding environment. Market regulation means that larger areas of farmland are used than would have been the case without subsidies, and this can lead to both beneficial and negative environmental effects. Conservation of open landscapes is an example of a beneficial effect. On the other hand, the CAP can in general be said to have increased pressures on the environment through the increased farming intensity which it produces. However, the negative environmental effects of modern agriculture are only due the CAP to a limited extent. Instead, most agri-environmental problems are due to the technological and economic advances in our society. Yet it must also be said that the Common Agricultural Policy has not paid sufficient attention to, nor made amends for, the environmental problems which do exist. A basic objective of agricultural policy must be that production of agricultural goods should be sustainable in the long term. Production, both inside Union and in the rest of the world, must be conducted in such a way that the long term capacity of natural resources to produce food is not endangered. The harmful effects on the environment resulting from agricultural production must be minimized. This means that the environmental load due to agriculture must be substantially reduced and that production, to a larger extent, has to be permeated with environmental considerations. Another important objective for agricultural policy must be to promote and conserve biodiversity, and promote a varied farming landscape in which historical values can be preserved. It is important both for our current population and coming generations wanting to enjoy a farming landscape with its cultural traditions and flora and fauna intact. This objective is partly linked to the objective for food production to be sustainable in the long term. To preserve a diversity of flora and fauna also requires a reduction in environmental load. 78 Agriculture and the environment 6.2.1 Beneficial environmental effects of agriculture In a future society in ecological balance agriculture will play a central role. It is important that agriculture is given the opportunity to provide various types of environmental services such as biodiversity, cultural values and varied farming landscapes. The open and varied landscapes which we appreciate are the result of, and are shaped by agriculture. The rich diversity of flora and fauna created mainly by farmers of past generations requires, in a majority of cases, sustained agricultural production. Agricultural policy should seek to achieve flexible and varied production systems which provide an opportunity to preserve diversity in the environment. For future generations to acquire food, production must be sustainable in the long term. However, in order to make best use of the beneficial effects of agriculture, environmental load must be reduced. 6.2.2 Harmful environmental effects of agriculture In order to make best use of the many beneficial effects of agriculture on the environment, environmental load needs to be minimized. Agri-environmental problems inside Union are in many cases regional or local in character, and the variation between different countries environmental problems is great. Briefly, the most significant agri-environmental problems can be described as follows: Biodiversity in farming landscapes and surrounding biotopes has been negatively affected by ditching and drainage, larger fields, elimination of biotopes, mechanisation, over-fertilising and an increase in the use of chemical pesticides. Agricultural specialisation and demands for high levels of efficiency and yield have led to significant biological depletion in European agriculture. Ditching and larger farming fields have led to a loss of various biotopes. Recycling of plant nutrition and organic waste products has been used less and less over the years. Instead, commercial fertilizer is used to a major extent.