Courage and vision to fight and overcome Covid-19. These are the two keywords of Italy’s minister for Agriculture Teresa Bellanova‘s speech during the Agrifish Council which took place today this afternoon in remote video conference mode. Courage “to put in place actions never imagined”. Vision “to take the European Union beyond this dramatic moment.”
ENSURING FOOD SUPPLY
“Today the priority is certainly to save lives, protect our health systems, and ensure care for citizens. But the spread of Covid-19 also concerns us on the food side, because we all need food that be healthy and safe” – the minister said. Moreover, “in these weeks we’ve been through a terrible tragedy, yet our food and drink production chains have not stopped. Ensuring food supply and the key role of agri-food systems are a priority. Today as never before, the function of the CFP is returning to its origin. This systemic crisis is threatening our economic systems in a way we have never seen before. The response needs common action. The measures of recent days are a good first step, which needs to be strengthened” – said the minister.
STOPPING DIVISIONS AND UNFAIR COMPETITION
“Divisive actions are not acceptable. And all speculation must be prevented together,” Ms Bellanova urged. “Blocking or restricting the circulation of agricultural and food products means interrupting the supply chain of essential goods. We must act quickly because there are so many problems to be faced. Among these logistical complexities, difficulties in finding the necessary manpower, manifest impossibility of withdrawing perishable products, collapse of the floriculture sector, the state of closure of fishing, losses recorded by aquaculture in the order of 50%.”
COVID-19 POST-EMERGENCY ACTIONS
In order to put in place the post-emergency, “the instruments activated in the past in the face of natural disasters or market crises are not sufficient. We need to develop a common intervention strategy that considers the different scenarios in the short, medium and long term. Not even a farmer, a breeder or a fisherman will have to quit his job. And none of the operators in the agri-food chain, nor in the catering industry” – minister Bellanova said.