Summary of newspapers of the previous day – 22.6. 2011

FAO owing to weather decreased cereals harvest estimation under consumption level

The world cereals production will be lower this year against previous estimations owing to unfavourable weather which affected a crop in Europe and the ESA. So, the production will decrease under the consumption level and prices will remain high and unstable. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UNO stated it today. FAO decreased the cereal harvest estimation on the day when ministers of agriculture of the group G20 met in France to discuss possibilities to reduce a threat of lack of foods and to prevent rise in their process. FAO predicts now that the world cereals production will grow to 2.302 milliard tonnes while the foregoing forecast stated 2.315 milliard tonnes. A forecast of its harvest was decreased also by the United States and also the European Union expects a low wheat and barley production.

Director of SZIF should be newly nominated by Minister of Agriculture

A director of the State Agricultural Intervention Fund (SZIF) should be newly nominated and called back by the Minister of Agriculture, not by the government like till now. The Chamber of Deputies decided on it today. In the final reading, it passed an amendment of appropriate law submitted by a chairman of the parliamentary agricultural committee Pavol Lukša (TOP 09). The proposal will be judged by the Senate now. Lukša substantiated his proposal among other with that the fund gets subsidies for European common agricultural policy from a chapter of the Ministry of Agriculture and also for reimbursement of administrative expenditures. Moreover, according to him, the Minister of Agriculture is responsible for that the fond will use the money for common agricultural policy properly. Therefore, in Lukša´s opinion, this relation and minister´s responsibility should be reflected in a way of nominating of a director and also approval of the fund regulations.

France promoted market regulations at first agricultural meeting of G20

At the first meeting at all of ministers of agriculture of G20, which starts in Paris today, the host France will try to enforce its proposals for reduction of price swings in foods by tightening of regulation of speculative trades. A two-day negotiations among representatives of the most important advanced and developing countries of the world will deals also with a question of a mutual data sharing of production and cereals reserves, and the topic of food aid. The French president Nicolas Sarkozy marked out as a priority of his G20presidency tightening of rules for trading with commodities which should influence, according to him, an intensive price increases recorded in the second half of the last year. G20 agrees on the necessity to stop the intensive price growth, however, some countries considers as the right way to this aim an increase of agricultural production and productivity.

Czech fish contain risk substances used in packages and extinguishing foam

Fish from Czech rivers and sediments on the bottom of water courses contain risk perfluorinated and brominated substances. A research carried out by the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague and the association Arnika has found out it. The compounds come for example from packages used in fast foods or from extinguishing foam. According to scientists, these substances can endanger human health. The scientists investigated 72 fish and 32 samples of river sediments taken from the river Vltava, Elbe, Bílina, Lužická Nisa, Haná, Dyje and Morava. The monitored substances appeared in most of samples. “They are ubiquitous in the environment”, Jindřich Petrlík, a master of the programme Toxic substances and wastes Arnika” commented a one-year research. “We have recorded a huge contamination with perfluorinated substances in fish muscles in the river Bílina in Ústí nad Labem and in the river Lužická Nisa in Liberec. In case of the second substances, the most serious findings were in Elbe in Štětí”, Jana Hajšlová from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague stated. High values were measured especially in bream, trout and roach.