Summary of newspapers of the previous day – 18.3.2010

Members of Parliament knocked down 1.5 billion crowns to farmers

National evening-up payments for farmers could increase by 1.5 billion crowns from incomes of the land Fund of the Czech Republic this year. It is supposed in an amendment to the law on fund passed by the Chamber of Deputies today. If the draft were passed by the Senate, too, the total sum for payments knows also as top-up would increase to 4,5 billion crowns. According to rules of the European Union, the state could pay off to farmers for this purpose roughly seven billion crowns this year. However, the present state of budget does not enable it. Member of Parliament want by means of the approved law to send also 150 million crowns for a promotion of the national food mark Klasa.

Rules for transport of harm substances for plant breeding will evidently change

Rules for transport of harmful organisms for example for breeding of plant varieties will be perhaps changed according to an EU instruction which has been in force already since the year-before last July. The changes should be brought by an amendment of act of phytosanitary care approved by the Senate today. A norm, whose discussion belongs among government priorities, will be sent to the President to sign now. “A purpose of the proposed adjustment is to enable a phytosanitary administration to issue a phytosanitary passport for transfer of quarantine material from the Czech Republic on a territory of other EU member state”, the Minister of Agriculture, Jakub Šebesta, said to senators.

Number of home-made cheeses increases; people go for it on farms

To drink just drawn milk or to taste hand-made delicious cheese has become a still more available matter recently. People can exchange standing about at shelves in supermarkets for an excursion on small farms which offer milk products for favourable prices. Michal Hrdlička from a farm in Brníčko near Zábřeh na Moravě raises besides cows also sheep of French bred Lacaune from whose milk a well-known blue cheese is produced. Interested people can go directly on the family farm to choose a delicious product practically any time. The farmer decisively can not complain about a lack of interest.

Danone withdrew; it will pay millions to customers for Activia

A company Danone, the biggest world yoghurt producer, wants by millions of dollars to even up a dispute about its yoghurts Activia in the United States. The firm confronts a court hearing in connection with an advertising campaign which emphasizes a health contribution and better probiotic effects of yoghurt Activia and Dan Active against competitive products. A similar campaign is led by Danone all over the world including the Czech Republic, however, the case came to the court only in the USA. Moreover, also the World Gastroenterologic Organization supported the campaign two years ago.