Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Agreement on the TAC and quotas
Joe Borg - Michel Barnier
© Le Conseil de l'Union européenne
- from: 18.12.2008
- to: 19.12.2008
- In: Brussels
The Agriculture and Fisheries Council of 18 and 19 December reached a unanimous agreement on the total allowable catches and fishing quotas for 2009.
After negotiations that concluded earlier than in previous years, the Member States agreed on the total allowable catches (TAC), their distribution and the associated conditions for the year 2009. This very important political agreement will allow the management of fishing activities for 2009. The Council also unanimously adopted conclusions on food, feed, animal and plant imports, following on from a memorandum filed in June last supported by 19 Member States. The proposal aimed at authorizing the use of chemical substances (notably chlorinated products, hence the term ‘chlorinated chicken’) to remove surface contamination from poultry carcases was unanimously rejected.
The adoption of this annual regulation was accelerated by the anticipation since October of the preliminary settings of the total allowable catches. The consensus obtained takes account of the scientific opinions and priorities of the Member States, while respecting the stock recovery management plans. Important measures for avoiding rejects will be implementing as of 2009 for certain areas and studies will be conducted on other specific areas. The ministers underlined that the efforts requested for several stocks have encouraging perspectives for sustainable fisheries management.
The Presidency presented the progress report on the green paper on the quality of agricultural products, on which a public consultation is ongoing until the end of the year. The Czech Presidency has made this one of its priorities.
The Council also adopted the progress report on animal by-products, the result of intense work by experts, which will be actively pursued by the Czech Presidency with a view to reaching agreement with the European Parliament at first reading. A certain number of other points were also discussed. Ireland and the Commission reported on the ‘dioxin’ incident in the pig and cattle sector in Ireland. Poland once more raised the issue of using surplus funds allocated under the budget. Romania signalled that an agreement had been reached on the barriers imposed by Greece on imports of cereals of Romanian and Bulgarian origin. Lastly, the Presidency informed the Council that a ministerial conference of the Union for the Mediterranean would be held in Egypt on agriculture and rural development.
- Updated: 30.12.2008
