May I put in some comments on the statements made by George Pullicino in Parliament as reported by The Times (April 22).
The minister declared that the best conditions were obtained for farmers and this was evidenced by the safeguard clause. There are jokes and cruel jokes too.
This safeguard clause is of the latter type. My colleague in the farmers' trade union movement, Peter Axisa, wrote in The Times on April 5 that he was conned during the negotiations despite being a consultant to the government. He was never let in on what really was being ceded during the negotiations.
He was promised that the application of the safeguard clause would be almost routine. A classical example of where the application of the safeguard clause was almost a must happened during the last weeks of winter, when oranges and tangerines from neighbouring Italy were for sale in Malta complete with stems and leaves. I saw these and touched them in a supermarket. Now Italy forbids any citrus fruit to enter its territory unless shorn of these items.
Malta, for as long as I can remember, had this non-trade issue implemented to safeguard local trees from disease and to protect the local market to help buyers recognise the local fruit on sight. The department could have applied this form of safeguard clause at no risk and there and then, this being a non-trade issue first class. This is only part of the cruel joke. What guarantee is there that similar tricks are not applied to consumers who want to purchase local products? The sufferers are the farmers and the consumers.
On farmers' income, I know that last year the price of carrots plummeted from 35c a kilo to 10c a few days after May 1. Farmers are lucky (?) this year with prices because the severe winter retarded all the crops even the local ones so prices are on the high side.
The farmers are not happy. They have a financial reason for the complaint. Their income fell sharply in 2004 compared to 2003 even though a bigger amount of crops was unloaded at the pitkalija central market. Statistics prove it. More problems are round the corner. The tomato processing industry has reduced the demand for crop because market conditions dictate it.
No, Mr Pullicino should not rub salt into the farmers' wounds. They know they have been led up to the cliff top and are now in free fall in a globalised market. Their only hope is joining a PO and tapping niche markets as soon as they loom on any side of the horizon.
I am proud to have been chosen to serve on one. The farmers' only hope is to try and export, thereby reducing the local load. Good prospects for niche exports exist. We will take or create them if farmers unite to deliver.
The minister should not try to hide behind the now farmer-damned safeguard clause. For those in the trade it is just another see-through sieve.