The Central Government reinforces aid to farmers and ranchers with the aim of appeasing the protests or, at least part of them, those of the professional organizations. The Ministry of Agriculture sent another document to Asaja, COAG and UPA with 43 measures, among which a favorable financing package to activate up to 700 million stands out.
Two months after the start of the tractor protests, Agriculture offers two new financing lines: one to mobilize up to 200 million in credits and guarantees from the ICO for young people and another to activate up to 500 million in financial operations. The ministry has authorization from the Treasury to contribute 77 million in an extraordinary way, despite the fact that the general budgets for 2023 have been extended.
In parallel with soft financing, Agriculture expands tax credits, also with the approval of the Treasury. It will maintain the reduced rate for hydrocarbons for agricultural use and deductions from personal income tax for fuel and fertilisers. There will also be a 15% reduction in the net return on income for the module system and income from VAT deductions will be exempt from the maximum limit.
Agriculture conveys in the document to the professional organizations that some measures to simplify the common agricultural policy (CAP) will already be applied in 2024, with retroactive effects on January 1, as agreed in the last Council of Ministers European bouquet.
The central government still has to strengthen the food chain law, which prohibits sales at a loss, with more inspections. That is why Planas already announced a month and a half ago the creation of a state agency based on the current Food Information and Control Agency (IACA). The ministry is committed to introducing an amendment to a bill in progress to speed up the birth of the supervisory body.
The Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, was optimistic yesterday about the possibility that the EU will end up approving the long-awaited mirror clauses, that is to say, that agricultural products that have been produced outside the Community market will be required to have the same conditions than nationals. Spain and France are trying it, but the opposition of the Nordics, mainly dependent on imports, prevents it. Planas stated that he is confident that this measure can be a reality in the next community legislature.
The minister recalled the transfer of 1,400 million in aid to 131,000 farmers and ranchers from 2022. “It is the largest State aid to the agricultural sector outside of the CAP”, he emphasized. ” Do we solve everything? No”, he added.
