Agricultural Markets Task Force – EDA’s view on market transparency

Agricultural Markets Task Force – EDA’s view on market transparency The setting up of the Agricultural Markets Task Force (AMTF) by the EU Commissioner Phil Hogan at the beginning of this year as one of the initiatives taken in this difficult market situation is supported by EDA. As mentioned by Director-General Plewa, its aim is to provide the Commission with advice and expertise in the area of the food supply chain and see what concrete improvements could be made for farmers. We are confident that these recommendations will be done in coordination with the High Level Forum for the Better Functioning of the Supply Chain For the next meeting of the AMTF on 8th March, experts will tackle the subject of market transparency by answering the following questions: › Are current public data collection activities on agricultural markets sufficient? What role for the Commission and Member States in collection and dissemination? › What role for agricultural policy to set standards in data collection, common frameworks and mandatory reporting? If so - in which sectors; at what level (EU, MS?); which data; which parts of the food chain? › Is policy support needed to improve the use of market information by farmers (targeted training, advisory network)? Through this short paper, EDA would like to share our position on market transparency in the dairy sector and on the bodies that contribute to this transparency. Milk Market Observatory – the information exchange body In the case of the dairy sector, calls for better market transparency on the dairy markets in Europe increased in the last