Cattle breeders assured of EU aid

Malta has obtained a permanent derogation for farmers who rear cows for milk and beef production, Francis Agius, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries, said yesterday.

Thanks to the derogation, Maltese farmers can continue receiving European Union aid which they risked losing due to Malta's small size.

In Malta, 75 per cent of milk producers and 97 per cent of beef producers do not have large enough farms to be able to comply with the EU rules applicable to big countries.

The EU, which gives aid to animal producers based on the area of land they have in relation to the number of animals, had already changed the regulations so that producers who do not have sufficient land may still be entitled to receive payments in January last year.

However, Dr Agius explained, Maltese producers still had a problem when it came to transfer part of their entitlement, a practice that was an intrinsic part of how they carried out their business. The problem was that they would only be entitled to aid if they keep production up to a certain level, restricting the flexibility that was needed for the sector to function properly.

Since the EU acknowledged that this rule was creating problems for the sector in Malta, it exempted the country from restriction so that breeders could still receive aid insofar as food safety, environmental standards and animal welfare were kept.