two suggestions on the aspect of food (chain) policy for a workshop organised by DG Agri May 2017 in Brussels. Intended to be a bit provocative to stimulate discussion

1. Two suggestions for a
Common Agri-Food Policy
Krijn J. Poppe | Wageningen Economic Research
May 2017, Brussels

2. Five major
challenges
 Food and nutrition security and safety
 Climate change and water & energy use
 Reducing ecological impacts
 Healthy diet for a lifelong healthy lifestyle
 Inequality

4. Food chain: 2 weak spots
Input industriesFarmerFood processorConsumer Retail
• Public health issues –
obesity, Diabetes-2 etc.
• Climate change asks for
changes in diet
• Environmental costs
need to be internalised
• Climate change (GHG)
strengthens this
Is it coincidence that these 2 are the weakest groups?
Who influences farmer most: the chain or CAP greening?
> Food system approach needed

5. Some issues at
the consumer
side
 Long term food safety: diet related diseases
 We eat too much, waste food, not enough fruit & veg.
 This correlates with climate change issues
 Market failures: no true price food, health cost socialised
 EU aspects: food law, labelling, international retail and
food industry, borders (e.g. VAT on animal products)
 Hard to influence with changes in farm management (and
agricultural policy): needs food policy

6. Greening with the food industry
 Food processors should pay the true cost to a farmer, the
reduction in cost price should not be at the expense of
the environment and the tax payer (income support)
 More and more food processors have sustainability
schemes (in addition to food safety schemes as Global
GAP, BRC etc).
 This development should be strengthened
 Also as these schemes are more flexible to local
circumstances (water is an issue in Spain, not in Ireland)
 And reduces administrative burden
 Builds upon the producer organisations and equivalence
principle (‘green by default’) in current CAP and
experiences with creating a market for organic

7. Example
 Farms with SFP < €5,000.- : no change (income support)
 Farms with SFP > €5,000.- :
● Producer Organisation that operates one or more
sustainability schemes can have those schemes
certified and audited by the EU (to check if it is
‘green’ enough)
● If certified, its farmers get a voucher for the SFP (>
€5,000.-) to be handed in with the Paying Agency
● For farms that are not a member of such a Producer
Organisation with a sustainability scheme,
sustainability accounting is obliged to receive the SFP
€ > 5,000.- (see results FLINT project that this is feasible; see Origin
Green by Bord Bia in Ireland)

8. Potential positive effects
 Farmers will put pressure on food industry to recognize
such schemes, some will develop them for PO / contracts
 Some schemes will have very green criteria to be used in
the market for selling products at a premium
 Only the greenest products are subsidized, giving them
an advantage in the market
 Regional flexibility is possible to recognize differences in
environmental problems
 Farmers are not confronted by incentives and paper
work that differs between government and industry
 Auditing of farmers can be done by current private
companies (SGS etc) and EU only has to certify and
audit schemes (and can accept small mistakes)

9. Some questions....
 EU has to define the threshold for a scheme to be green
enough
● How to treat differences between regions in
environmental issues (water, animal welfare?)
● How to deal with mixed farms, PO with >1 scheme?
● Should schemes have actions for improvement?
 The idea fits mainly in NW Europe?
 Differentiate the € 5,000.- threshold between MS based
on regional income ?
 Some farms do not have accounts, but in the 1960s the
EU interest subsidy was tied to accounting (seen as
professional farming, why otherwise subsidize loans and
extension?)

10. In conclusion
 Policies should address market failures and public values
 Current food chains have two weak spots: farmers and
consumers; food system approach with the big players
 Targeting one of them does not automatically solve
issues on the other weak spot
 But one agriculture and food policy package may link city
and countryside, solve climate change issues coherently
 And provide a better rationale for the CAP
 Sustainability schemes should replace greening
Input industriesFarmerFood processor
Consumer Retail

11. Thanks for your
attention
krijn.poppe@wur.nl
www.wur.nl