There Union of Small Farmers and Breeders (UPA)This Wednesday he defended his agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture, by which their participation in rural mobilizations decreases, in “responsibility” for the “solutions” obtained for farmers and breeders faced with “uncertainty” due to the proximity of issues such as the presentation of PAC applications or the income tax return. but also because “we couldn’t wait forever” to obtain one hundred percent of the requests made andn demonstrations in the agricultural sector.
However, the general secretary of the professional agricultural organization of Castilla y León, Aurelio González, emphasized that This agreement does not break the alliance that the UPA maintains with COAG in the Community. “There is no risk,” he assured, in statements collected by Ical, stressing that the unity of action agreement between the two organizations already specifies that these are two takeover bids. and that they defend “together” in what they agree and separately when they do. maintain “a different position”.
In any case, he said that The UPA is open to both COAG and Asaja and the rest of the professional agricultural organizations that not only adhere to the agreement with the Ministry.or, but to the requests that were sent to the Council last week and among which are 30 requests to expand and implement the measures agreed with the government.
Certain measures which, according to Ramos, could not be “abandoned” because “whatever the CAP simplification measures carried out, there was a package of taxation, financing, agricultural insurance and integration of young people “which represents an amount of more than 2 billion euros which could not be lost” for the entire sector of the country.
It is for this reason that the national leader of the OPA justified the signature by recalling that the UPA “does not matter who governs” if it is necessary to negotiate or demand, and that it is for this reason that they took to the streets and highways during the months of January and February but that “they lost strength” from that moment on and, after the meeting with Luis Planas on February 28, they took a month to reflect on the proposed measures until the document is signed on April 3.
Faced with criticism, he defended that Your organization is not the one breaking unity of action because “no organization has criticized the measures” agree with the ministry but “only that we signed. But someone had to do it, we can’t wait forever,” he said.
And he added that For the development of some of the agreed measures, the signature of at least one agricultural organization was necessary.so that Agriculture can present the deal to other ministries such as the Treasury, as it includes tax and financing issues for which “money must come from other departments”. Likewise, the signing of the agreement allows the UPA to be part of the committee monitoring the measures, in order to ensure their implementation.
Ramos assured that among the measures included in the agreement, the elimination of the rotation obligation and leaving 4 percent fallow until the end of 2027 stands out; reduce the requirements of eco-diets; that the digital notebook is voluntary; simplify checks and avoid the need to send georeferenced photos, in addition to removing electronic identification or the obligation of the veterinarian on the farm.
All these issues are linked to the CAP, although regarding trade agreements with third countries, he stressed that it had gone “as far as possible” and that at least, in Spain, the zero limit would be applied. for products containing residues of phytosanitary products which cannot be used in Europe, for which, in addition, controls will be increased.
And to all this, he said, is added the working group on takeover bids, in which the ministry is committed to monitoring “exports and imports” of the main products.
He also defended the law on the food chain and the agreement for the AICA “to become a state agency, with more personnel and means” to control the functioning of the chain, as well as the program that will allow farmers and breeders to file complaints for breaches. of the law “without fear of reprisals from companies”.
And he also claimed that the agricultural insurance system had been “saved” thanks to measures such as “when extraordinary damages occur, they will not be paid with the money that comes from the insurance budget”, which increased policy costs. He also stressed the importance of both obtaining a line of credit for the financing of 800 million euros and maintaining the reimbursement of the special tax on hydrocarbons, facing the “threat” that the 400 million which are returned each year “will” be lost.”
“More than 90 percent of the requests made by the three professional agricultural organizations are included in the document that we delivered to Planas itself, and now it is up to the autonomous communities to get involved,” he concluded .
Asaja stands out
For his part, the president of Asaja in Castilla y León, Donaciano Dujoinsisted this Wednesday on the fact that his organization distances itself from the agreement signed between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with two other OPAs, the Union of Trade Unions and the UPA, to “ consistency and seriousness” in the face of a package of 43 measures that she considers “insufficient”.
“We do not understand how the UPA or the Union of Trade Unions said yes, when a month earlier they had described these measures as insufficient. Asaja will continue to put pressure on the government appropriately to achieve profitability, to bring other ministries up to par and to achieve viability of agricultural and livestock operations,” Dujo said ahead of the XXXIII Assembly celebration General Director of Asaja Partners. Salamanca, which was used to deliver the golden badge of the organization to journalists César Lumbreras.
In this sense, the leader of Asaja recalled that, in the agreement, there are “transcendental issues” that have not been addressed and that not everything depends on the portfolio led by Luis Planas. “There are ministries that have not paid attention to us, such as the Ecological Transition in everything that involves water or wildlife. And the Treasury, Social Security and Consumer Affairs are not up to par either. Thus, the measures that Agriculture has put in place are appreciated and recognized, but overall they are insufficient. And all the agricultural organizations described them as insufficient when they were first presented,” he concluded.