The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Elizabeth Truss)
The next Agriculture and Fisheries Council will be on 10 November in Brussels. My hon. Friend, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord de Mauley), will represent the UK. Richard Lochhead MSP will also attend.
There are both agriculture and fisheries items on this month’s agenda.
On fisheries, agreement of the Council regulation fixing fishing opportunities for EU vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks in 2015 and 2016 is expected.
On agriculture, there will be an exchange of views and possible agreement on state aid in the Republic of Cyprus in the form of a tax exemption on motor fuel used for agricultural purposes. There will also be an exchange of views on the Commission’s amending letter No.1 to the draft general budget 2015, which relates to the use of the crisis reserve to fund the support schemes available to farmers affected by the Russian import ban on agricultural food products.
There are currently five any other business items:
Organic production and labelling of organic products.
Peaches and nectarines in relation to the Russian ban.
Protection of honey bees in Europe.
Authorisation scheme for plant protection products.
Young farmers.