Summary of newsmakers from the previous days 8. – 10. 4. 2005

Professional forest manager is essential

A professional forest manager, who can guarantee his/her professionality and that the proposed activities, carried out in the forest, are in accordance with law, is essential for a forest as well as its owner. Besides, such a professional forest manager is the right hand of the state forests administration since it is above all through him/her that the state forests administration can obtain information on the state of a forest. That is why the services of a professional forest manager, employed by a private owner with a forest up to 50 hectars, are financed by the government, provided that the owner had not chosen its forest manager by himself.

Czech animal protectors also want to stop the subsidies for cattle export

Two days later than in Brussels, Czech animal protectors in Prague has begun today the campaign against the subsidies for cattle export from the European Union to the Near East. As well as their European colleagues, they demand the Commission to draw back the draft for the continuation of subvention for cattle export to third countries from the next year´s budget. The conditions on the journey to slaughter-houses and the way animals lose their lives are, according to animal protectors, inconsistent with the European standards. It is highly unethical to support such treatment with animals in other countries, they claim.

Troubles with animal passports on decline

According to information from the Directory of the Foreigners´ police and the Frontier police force the Frontier guard department, it has been proved that within the first 3 months of this year there has been a significant improvement in arranging passports for small animals. It has been reported by Josef Duben, the spokesperson of the State Veterinary Administration of the Czech Republic. He also pointed out that since last October there is a duty for travellers with dogs, cats and ferrets within the whole European Union to dispose of the so called passport for small animals. It is the Czech Foreigners´ police and the Frontier guard that checks these passports.

French agriculture to be changed radically

The French Ministry of Agriculture is finishing a bill on orientation of agriculture, which will form the agricultural sector in the following years. According to the ministry, the act on orientation is to support development and modernisation of French agriculture with respect to the international and European policies, to offer farmers new perspectives and improve their working conditions, and least but not last, to support the forms of agriculture, which correspond with the current requirements and expectations of citizens and consumers. The minister of agriculture, Dominique Busserea, has informed journalists that the act would include a time-line of the French agriculture development for next 15 years.