EU tables fruit and veg reforms

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The European Commission has announced plans to shake up support for fruit and vegetable farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The plans copy reforms made to other areas of the CAP, ending a link between subsidies and amounts of food produced.

Instead, fruit and vegetable farmers would receive payments based on the area of land under their control.

Money would also be spent on helping the environment and getting people to eat more fruit and vegetables.

Officials pointed out that only two European countries currently meet the World Health Organisation target of 400g per day for individual consumption of fruit and vegetables.

Export subsidies

In some countries, including the UK, people eat less than two-thirds of the recommended amount.

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The fruit and vegetable sector is the last-but-one area of the Common Agricultural Policy to face reform. The Commission will table proposals in June to shake up the wine industry.

As well as putting an end to the trade-distorting subsidies based on production volume - which encourage farmers to over-produce - the reforms would also abolish export subsidies.

Up to now, farmers have received these subsidies when exporting goods for less than a target price fixed by the European Commission.

The proposed changes are not expected to alter the size of the subsidy to fruit and vegetable farmers, which is currently about 1.5bn euros (Â£980m) per year, or 3.1% of the EU agriculture budget.

Promotion

They will have most impact in Greece, Spain, Italy, Malta and Portugal, where fruit and vegetables account for at least a quarter of agricultural output.

The reforms are designed to encourage fruit and vegetable farmers to form producer organisations.

The Commission says it will pay 60% of any money spent by producer organisations promoting fruit and vegetables as a healthy food for children and teenagers.

If a producer organisation withdraws a product from the market because it is not selling well, the European Commission has up to now provided a 100% subsidy.

It proposes that in future the producer organisation will have to pay 50% of the cost of withdrawal itself - unless the food is distributed free of charge to schools, hospitals, charities or old people's homes.

Producer organisations would also have to spend at least 20% of their operational programme on environmental measures.

The Commission says it hopes to get agreement from member states before the end of the year, so that the measures can come into force in 2008.

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