This article is from page 38 of the 2008-05-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 38 JPG
AS THE WTO grows ever closer, Clare man, Eddie Punch, was at the centre of all the action this week, leading an ICSA delegation to met with EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel in Brussels on Thursday,
Punch and a number of top level ICSA delegates highlighted a number of concerns of Irish farmers regard- ing WTO and the EU health check proposals. The delegation consisted of Punch alongside Malcolm Thomp- son, ICSA president, sheep chairman Mervyn Sunderland and Gabriel Gilmartin, ICSA rural development at-boweet-nee
ICSA emphasised the threat posed
to the beef and lamb sectors by the WTO proposals and_ underlined that even the sensitive status clause would not be sufficient to keep these sectors viable. ICSA also outlined its concerns over modulation proposals that would result in an eight per cent cut in the Single Farm Payment for all payments in excess of €5,000.
“The WTO is now an outdated re- sponse to the issue of global food se- curity. We must first insist on main- taining the viability of the maximum number of EU farmers,” said Mr Punch.
“Europe must retain the ability to feed itself, rather than allowing itself to become over dependent on im- ports. ICSA believes that this WTO round needs to be replaced by a com-
pletely different approach and we will continue to insist that the Irish Government vetos a bad deal.”
He also highlighted the particu- larly difficult circumstances facing the sheep sector and emphasised the importance of implementing key recommendations in the Aylward report. “The priority message that we delivered was that sheep farming would not survive in Europe without a commitment for additional sup- port. However, even this may not be enough if the WTO deal goes ahead,’ he continued.
ICSA also briefed the commis- sioner on the impossibility of get- ting work completed under the Farm Waste Management scheme by the deadline of December 31, 2008.
Following the release of further re- vised papers on Agriculture and Non Agriculture Market Access under WTO, Catherine Buckley, Macra na Feirme National President said it 1s time for the Irish Government to call a hault to Peter Mandelson’s solo run on WTO.
“Mr Mandelson has exceeded his mandate from the European Com- mission and the Irish Government must intervene and put a stop to it, he is failing to recognise the views of all the commission and the heads of state. Mandelson’s open door policy will mean a race to the bottom on production standards, as the market will ultimately be left to imports re- sulting in a Worst Trade Outcome for farmers and consumers,” she said.