Polish Deputy Minister for Agriculture visits Germany

“In view of the cutthroat pig prices which we find our pig farmers being confronted with, we came here to get informed about the German pig market”, says Sebastian Filipek-Kazmierczak, Poland’s Deputy Minister for Agriculture on the occasion of his visit to the ISN offices at Damme.

On his trip to Germany, the Minister was accompanied by eight experts from the Polish pig industry. Among them were Jan Biegienski and Tadeusz Blicharski from Polsus, the Polish pig producers’ and pig farmers’ association. Furthermore, representatives from the Polish Economic Chamber, the Polish Economic Chamber of the Meat Business, the Polish Association of Meat and Sausage Producers and from the Cologne Polish Consulate General accompanied the Minister.

The following persons from Germany attended the discussions: Franz Meyer zu Holte, Chairman of the ISN and Chairman of the German EPP Group, Mrs Birgit Scharlau, EPP Vice President, other persons from ISN and other market experts.

The group’s excursion to Germany had been ordered by Andrzej Lepper, Minister for Agriculture, who founded a workgroup to find and develop solutions to the Polish pig producers’ fatal situation. It was said that the misery in pricing had to be attributed above all to the long-lasting problems with exports to Russia and the Ukraine. Those were, first of all, kind of a political problem. Both Russia and the Ukraine had stopped pork imports from Poland because pork, as they stated, were not allowed for export to Russia. Recent controls, however, had shown that all conditions stipulated had been obeyed on the part of the Polish.

Acting jointly, the German and Polish pig keepers intend to support agricultural interests in Brussels. “Agriculture must not be victimised in support of other economic interests during the WTO negotiations ahead”, declared Filipek-Kazmierczak. So, for the future, close cooperation is planned between the Polish government’s representatives, the Polish pig keepers, the representatives of the Polish livestock and meat industries as well as the German lobbyists. Vital questions regarding pig farming in Europe are intended to be agreed upon o a bilateral basis henceforth in order to add weight on pig farming interests in Brussels.