EU announces further 165 mln euros of fruit, vegetable market support

The European Commission on Monday adopted a new program worth up to 165 million euros (209 million U.S. dollars) for perishable fruit and vegetables under the Russian ban.

The new aid fund, one of the emergency market support measures, was designated to provide support to withdraw surplus volumes from the market and came in addition to the program worth up to 125 million euros that was announced on Aug. 18 but suspended on Sept. 10.

The fresh program will be more targeted than the initial scheme, as part of the market support measures designed to provide short- term relief for agricultural producers affected by the Russian imports ban, said European Union Agricultural Commissioner Dacian Ciolos.

The new scheme, which will run until the end of the year, includes an annex with specific volumes listed in four product categories for the 12 countries which exported most fruit and vegetables to Russia during the September-December period on average from 2011-2013.

Following the Russian ban of imports of certain agricultural products from the EU on Aug. 7, the European Commission has outlined specific market support measures for peaches and nectarines ( 33 million euros), perishable fruit and vegetables (125 million euros), and private storage aid for butter, skimmed milk powder and cheese, as well as an additional 30 million euros for promotion programs. (1 euro = 1.27 U.S. dollars)