Parliamentary question - P-1577/2006Parliamentary question
P-1577/2006

Support for the poultry sector

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1577/06
by Czesław Siekierski (PPE‑DE)
to the Commission

Over recent times we have been hearing almost every day of new examples of the extreme virulence of avian influenza. Such news has contributed to a worsening of the relationship between supply and demand on the Community market. Demand for poultry meat has fallen significantly and there are no signs that the situation will improve n the near future. In some countries consumers are in the grip of a real psychosis over the matter, with consumption falling by more than 60 % in certain cases. As a result of the decline in consumption, poultry prices have fallen, and this has sparked off a chain reaction: being unwilling to accept birds for slaughter, slaughterhouses cut slaughter volumes, resulting in an increase in the number of broilers for slaughter; in turn, breeding farms are left with the problem of what do with eggs intended for breeding use. The painful effects of the fall in demand brought about by the appearance of bird flu are being felt by the whole of the EU's poultry sector.

The current EU regulations governing poultry market policy do not appear to provide an adequate basis for a solution to be found to the crisis affecting poultry breeders, egg producers, slaughterhouses and poultry processors.

We are faced with a deepening market crisis that is causing increasingly heavy financial losses for the poultry sector which are already estimated at hundreds of millions of euros per month.

Only appropriate action at Community level can be effective in this instance, and the Commission should take such action as soon as possible. Compensation should be put in place for owners of poultry farms that have not been directly affected by bird flu but are suffering major losses resulting from the restrictions in trade and the collapse in demand. Thought should be given to increasing the number of products eligible for export refunds and to raising the rates payable. A campaign should be conducted at EU level in order to inform the public of the real threat stemming from the appearance of the disease, and rebuild their confidence. In most cases, outside France, the disease is affecting wild birds, not poultry. Careful thought would nevertheless need to be given to whether such an approach would be effective, since it could have the opposite result and increase consumer concern. The right solution might be to allocate resources to making available loans for the conversion and restructuring of the poultry sector in this exceptional situation. In some countries the poultry trade is reporting difficulties with the storage of surplus poultry meat, and careful thought should therefore be given to the introduction of storage aid.

A decision on providing support to the poultry sector should be taken as soon as possible and not left until the situation has become intolerable.

What steps does the Commission intend to take to tackle the crisis in the poultry sector throughout the European Union, including Poland, and when does it intend to take them?

OJ C 328, 30/12/2006