The International Dairy Cooperatives Forum in Białystok is a cyclical event which has taken place for 19 years. Its participants include the representatives of sectoral unions and organisations, experts, members of cooperatives, producers and processors from the dairy sector.

The purpose of the meeting

The purpose of the meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture was to strengthen the cooperation among the countries of our region at the time of the war in Ukraine and the economic crisis. The strengthened regional cooperation is expected to  ensure the better identification of common problems and challenges in the dairy sector and to make it possible to more effectively cope with these challenges and to present joint positions at the EU level in matters of importance for the milk producers and processors in the countries of our region.

The topic of the talks

The main topic of both the meeting of the Ministers and the 19^th International Dairy Cooperatives Forum was safeguarding food security in the EU and in the world in the context of the war in Ukraine.

The Ministers discussed the chances and challenges related to safeguarding food security, stressing the need to adapt to climate change, to shift to sustainable production and to take into account consumers’ expectations. All of them agreed that it was necessary to build food sovereignty, make the EU independent from imports and to support the dairy sector in our countries.

About the Polish dairy sector

Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kowalczyk stressed that the Polish dairy sector was one of the most important areas of the national food economy and that milk processing facilities in Poland belonged to  the most modern plants in Europe and in the world.

“The dairy industry is one of the most important branches of the Polish agri-food sector. It generates about 13% of the revenues from the whole economic activity of the food industry. Poland is a major exporter of dairy products for the internal market of the EU and to third countries. The Polish dairy sector has large adaptation capacity and the continuity of milk production does not seem to be at risk,” Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kowalczyk noted.

The head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture informed about the support which Poland would provide to the dairy sector, among others, in the national CAP Strategic Plan.

Challenges facing the dairy sector in Poland and the UE

Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kowalczyk recalled the challenges facing the dairy sector in Poland and the UE,  mentioning, among others, the war in Ukraine and disturbances in supply chains, the growing costs of inputs to production, the ambitious reduction targets of the European Green Deal and the increased agri-food imports from the countries which do not comply with so restrictive standards regarding the environment and animal welfare as those in place in the European Union. He stressed that in the face of these challenges Europe could not  afford to limit the food production.

“In the present situation, it is irresponsible to take actions to limit the agricultural production in Europe and it could cause dramatic effects on the global scale. Food sovereignty is Poland’s highest priority, of the same importance as military and security,“ Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kowalczyk pointed out

The war in Ukraine and the assumptions of the European Green Deal

The Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development indicated that in the face of war in Ukraine there was a need for some revision of the assumptions of the European Green Deal in agriculture and for a change in the approach to the Common Agricultural Policy. We need climate change policy which would not undermine food security in Europe and the competitiveness of the production of the European agriculture.

“There is a need to ensure a balance between the goals of food security, the appropriate level of food production in the EU and the objectives of the European Green Deal. The implementation of ambitious objectives must not contribute to a drop in production, including cattle breeding and milk production in the EU, and to higher imports. It must not, either, pose a risk for food security and decrease the competitiveness of European agriculture,” Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kowalczyk stressed.

The Joint Declaration of the Ministers of Agriculture

As a conclusion of the talks in Białystok, the Ministers of Agriculture signed their Joint Declaration on the chances and challenges of the dairy sector related to safeguarding food security in the context of the implementation of measures to adapt to the requirements of sustainable production and climate change.