Associations of producers and industry require the MARM criteria of equality with regard to imports from third countries

A total of 14 organizations representing various sub-sectors agroganaderos and meat industry, ASOPROVAC among them, went yesterday written to the Minister of environment, Rural Environment and Marino, Rosa Aguilar, to ask for a solution to the unjust situation suffering arising from Community policy concerning the production and licensing of raw materials for animal feed. To this end, the signatory associations have reported: "the inconsistency of Community policy, which limits the use in feedingstuffs of animal meal and genetically modified events, European farmers while it does not lock any entry into our territory of meat or fisheries products from third countries in which" "If this made it possible to use".

Community leaders insist that it can be limitations to imports of - specifically, meat or fish - animal products from third countries in these matters, which reveals the enormous contradiction of European policies being on the verge of bankruptcy by a Spanish livestock production more than obvious loss of competitiveness. "The attitude of our politicians — claim representatives of producer associations - they constitute an intolerable discrimination both for European producer, and in our case Spanish, as for the own consumer, which remains quite uninformed about this reality". As a result, organizations have demanded the Minister to immediately consider this issue in the community forums: "from a political, technical point of view and even, if is accurate, legal, in order to address this unfair situation".

In addition, the signatory organizations have demanded that, while not be allowed the use of identical raw materials to those employed in the rest of the world endorsed the relevant evaluations for cattle feeding, positive by parties of the EFSA, so that they are in the same situation of competition, "ban immediately, at least in our country, imports of meat, fish breeding and animal products from third countries which have not been produced with identical requirements to those required by the EU for in-house productions". The signatories include: the Spanish Association of producers of cattle of meat (ASOPROVAC), the Association of industries of the meat Spain (AICE), the National Association of pig breeding livestock (ANPROGAPOR), the Agricultural Association of young farmers (ASAJA), the Spanish Association of producers of eggs (ASEPRHU), Spanish Confederation of manufacturers of food compounds for animals (CESFAC), (UPA) Union of small farmers and ranchers.