Agricultural policy dismissed as counterproductive by industry boss

Date: 11/04/02

By David Cronin

FOOD giant Unilever has branded the EU's farm and fisheries policies as 'outdated' and totally lacking in perspective.

The company's chairman, Antony Burgmans, believes they 'seriously impede structural and sustainable solutions' to global poverty and environmental degradation. He describes the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as 'counterproductive' because more than half of all its subsidies go to just 20% of farmers. 'And on balance, the hard-working farmer doesn't even earn an acceptable income.'

Burgmans, in a speech due to be delivered at the European Food Summit in Brussels today (11 April), continues: 'The agricultural policy has resulted in quantities of food supply that do not match the demand for quality foods. It encourages the over-cropping of our valuable land and the excessive use of fertilisers. And it costs the taxpayer loads of money - we spend some €44 billion of EU taxpayers' money on agriculture annually without a proper sustainability assessment.'

If there is to be a gleam of hope in the worldwide campaign against poverty, Europe and the rest of the industrialised world 'will have to radically reform our outdated agricultural policy with its total lack of perspective', he adds.

The tariff barriers which the EU applies to outside imports are 'prohibitive' and 'create frustration in developing countries', he argues.

One of the biggest manufacturers of fish products in the world, Unilever believes that the mass exploitation of stocks encouraged by industrialised fishing could prove disastrous. 'If we continue to pursue our current fishing practices, then the end is in sight.'

This view, Burgmans says, is based on 'enlightened self-interest' as Unilever would not be able to produce its popular fish fingers if stocks collapse.

Making clear that his company supports the use of genetically-modified (GM) ingredients in food, he criticises the 'precautionary principle' invoked in some EU food safety decisions. This guideline allows the Union to take action against certain products if there are concerns about a possible health risk, even if the scientific evidence is inconclusive.

'The precautionary principle is put forward - I would say abused - to silence the world and block all progress,' argues Burgmans, citing the opposition of many Europeans to GM crops. 'We simply can't permit ourselves such a rigid attitude.'

The European Food Summit is being organised by the Federation of Food and Drink Industries in the EU (CIAA).

Food company Unilever has branded the EU's farm and fisheries policies as 'outdated' and totally lacking in perspective.

http://www.unilever.com/news/speeches/EnglishSpeeches_4033.asp http://www.unilever.com/mediacentre/speeches/

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