Summary of newsmakers of the previous day - 22. 05. 2006

Balance of agribusiness deteriorates this year

Fall of agribusiness in the first quarter of this year in comparison with the last year increased again in March, by about 300 million crowns. It results from statistics which were published today by the Ministry of Agriculture (MZe). Negative balance over the first this year’s quarter reached 8 508 milliard crowns whereas it was only 7 729 milliard crowns in the same period last year.

Parliament will again review amendatory act which makes waste disposal more restrictive

Obviously, the Parliament will already next week vote again on a proposal which sets new rules for waste disposal. For example the law counts on increase in fines from ten to fifty crowns for its illegal import. Representatives included this measure in the proposal due to the fact that thousands of ton illegally imported German waste appeared in the Czech territory. However, the Senate returned the proposal with amendments to the Parliament.

WTO negotiation: EU signalize decrease of import duties on agricultural products

The EU marked on Friday that it is willing to compromise in a question of import duties on agricultural products and offered their more significant decrease. Readiness of the Union to concession in area of agricultural duties was announced on Friday by a spokesman of the commissioner for trade, Peter Mandelson. However, he added that the EU concessions have to be balanced somewhere else. Originally the EU suggested that it decreased its import duties on agricultural products at average by 39 % and about 8 % would be exceptions where instead of reduction of duties new quotas would be proposed.

State owns milliards to eco-farmers

Hana Dufková, a farmer from Vejprty, foothills of Krušné hory, is in threat that she will have to close her ecological farm with cattle breeding. She waits still to no purpose for state subsidies. Together with her thousands of other farmers who enterprise in foothills and take supports for farming without chemistry and landscape cultivation have not received yet money for the year 2005 this year. “I have claim on more than million crowns; without it I can not compete in our worse natural conditions. It is a matter of living for me”, Dufková says. Petr Houdek from Šluknov is in the same situation. “Last year at this time I had already had three millions. Now I missed them for still more expensive oil. I will not be able to cut the grass on my land and so I will not fulfill conditions for payments of subsidies”, he explains.