SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, March 25. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The plenary session of the Cabildo de Tenerife has approved this Friday unanimously by the political groups an institutional motion in support of livestock.
The proposal includes a battery of measures, among which the suspension, for one year, of the payment of fees for the use of the Insular Slaughterhouse of Tenerife (MIT) stands out, which will mean an estimated saving of 1.1 million euros for the sector.
The text, presented by the island councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, also includes the need to streamline the procedures for all aid processed in favor of livestock (including resorting to the declaration of urgency) and establishes the possibility of summoning, if necessary, another extraordinary subsidy for cattle feed.
The objective of this battery of measures is to help the sector to face the current situation of uncertainty, derived from the war in Ukraine, adopting extraordinary procedures, in order to maintain business confidence, tranquility in consumption and the future productivity of the sector, details the Cabildo in a note.
In order for ranchers to benefit from this tariff suspension, they must have a sales contract for the marketing of meat within the Food Chain Law.
The Cabildo de Tenerife has also committed to developing an innovation and modernization program for livestock farms aimed at sustainable and ecological livestock farming and organizing promotional actions that, under the umbrella of the ‘Carnes Frescas de Tenerife’ brand, help disseminate, raise awareness and promote the consumption of meat in the country.
In the same way, the island corporation will promote aid programs for the island’s agricultural markets, will facilitate the work of grazing and collecting vegetables that can serve as bedding for animals (especially in areas at high risk of forest fires) and is committed to to draw up and develop throughout this year a consumption program with the island’s hotels and restaurants for the purchase of local livestock production.
OTHER MEASURES
Through this motion, the direct involvement of the Government of the Canary Islands is also requested to establish other improvements related to national and European agricultural policy.
Among these measures, it stands out that the Cabildo has requested the Government of the Canary Islands to guarantee compliance with the Food Chain Law to assure producers, marketers and consumers that food meets the necessary requirements to guarantee the cost of production.
In the same way, they ask that the procedure be urgently initiated to increase by 20 percent the aid of the Community Support Program for Agricultural Production in the Canary Islands (Posei), and that the commercialization of local production be favored, encouraging operators of the Specific Supply Regime (REA) to purchase local products as opposed to imported ones.
The promotion of local forage production is also urged, through the Forage Plan, the urgent and extraordinary call for a specific line of support to alleviate the increase in the price of food and the preparation of a short-term strategic plan , medium and long term that includes measures to support the livestock sector in Tenerife.
Likewise, the Autonomous Executive is urged to establish new control systems that guarantee the transfer of the aid to the price of animal feed, in addition to requesting the revision of the aid and exemptions for the importation of products that compete with the local product, and the imposition of the AIEM tax on said products to equalize cost prices.
