Dairy Producers Campaign for Market Structure Act
GERMANY - With the German Ministry of Agriculture looking to replace the Market Structure Act with the “Act governing the Recognition of Agricultural Organisations” (AgrarOG), supposedly because the EU Milk Package demands it, dairy producers are campaigning to retain the original legislation.
7 August 2012
1 minute read
The aim of the Market Structure Act (MStG) in Germany is to improve the market position of farms. It enables producer collectives to be set up and permits what is termed “dual membership”, i.e. membership of a co-operative and of a producers’ union. It would not have been possible to set up the MEG Milch Board in Germany without the Market Structure Act, explains Dr Andrea Beste from the MEG Milch Board.
It is not at all necessary to amend the Market Structure Act in order to implement the Milk Package on a national basis. In those EU member states where there are no regulations, the Milk Package lays down the legal requirements for producers uniting and partly for the drafting of contracts.
So the draft AgrarOG Act clearly represents a worsening of the producers’ market position and is unnecessary, Dr Beste says. The possibility of membership of several producer organisations and the admissibility of common rules on selling must be maintained.
That is why from 27 June to 11 July the BDM and the MEG Milch Board conducted public information campaigns on the Market Structure Act outside the Ministries of Agriculture of many federal states in Germany, and called on the Ministers of Agriculture to vote against the new AgrarOG Act in the Bundesrat [German Upper House of Parliament].
The results of this are available here.
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