NFU and Coldiretti address concerns over global food prices

Farming leaders from the UK and Italy have joined forces today, Wednesday, to collaborate on growing global concerns surrounding food prices and food security.

In a Common Declaration issued at today's meeting in London, NFU President Peter Kendall and the president of Coldiretti, Italy's leading farming organisation, Sergio Marini, stressed that agriculture is more central than ever to the world economy and the reasons behind rising food prices lie in the historically low prices farmers have received.

In a joint statement they said: "European farmers have sought to guarantee food quality, security and transparently, responding to consumer demands. At the same time, they have contributed to the economic development of the EU giving added value to the whole territory.

"Today's problems are a result of low prices to farmers. Therefore, higher prices to Europe's farmers should be seen as a good thing. If they are sustained they will lead to greater developments in productive agriculture. Furthermore the focus of the European Union's food policy must be to deliver greater competitiveness and reduced regulatory burdens on producers."

Speaking of the reforms to Europe's Common Agricultural Policy announced in the CAP Health Check, the NFU and Coldiretti see the proposals put forward by the EU Commission as a positive step believing it is important to move rapidly towards a full decoupling of support payments to allow farmers to respond to market signals. This, together with the ending of set-aside, will be an important contribution within the European Union to rising food prices.

In addition the two organisations believe that further opening of world food markets could be positive, provided there was respect for common rules and standards. Moreover, they highlight that the EU is already the greatest importer of agricultural products from developing countries, importing more than the USA, Japan, Canada and Australia put together.

The joint statement concluded: "Farmers in the developed world also have a role to play in supporting the development of agricultural in the developing world, through the transfer of ideas, skills and technology. The NFU and Coldiretti have indicated they are ready to collaborate to help other farmers respond to calls for greater food production over the coming years."