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Session 3 – practical examples

Xavier Poux

from AscA, France and the EFNCP, analysed whether or not the French AOC label reflects HNV values. His conclusion was that presently it is questionable if AOC is supporting or ensuring HNV. Some AOCs are definitively HNV but for the consumer there is not enough information on the products or in the stores to distinguish such a product from an AOC detrimental to nature. To include grasslands into the criteria for AOC would not be sufficient for HNV purposes. There is a complex link between HNV and territory. Until now AOC is a market tool which tends to create an incentive to maximise production – a necessarily ambiguous signal. Finally he suggested that the nature can work for the market but only given new market instruments and a lot of public policy intervention. We should remember that so far the market has destroyed lots of HNV areas!

Download: Session 3 – Xavier Poux (PDF 975.8 KB)

Guy Beaufoy

from IDRISI, Spain and the EFNCP, discussed examples of labelled ham, goat cheese and olives from Spain in relation to HNV. Regarding olives, biodiversity of the production dependa for instance on structural diversity of elements such as trees (age, size), grass layer (permanent, temporary, absent), stone walls (additional habitat for reptiles) and other vegetation (on and off the farm) and how these elements are managed. At present, the PDO rules do take account either of the elements or the management of them. Within the same region vastly different farm practices appear implying that some areas are HNV and others are not. He concluded after having studied several PDO examples, that in terms of farming practices, production rules are very vague; products carrying PDO label can be from farms with very different practices and environmental conditions; and these labels are concerned with product quality but not with environmental quality.

Download: Session 3 – Guy Beaufoy (PDF 10.8 MB)

Elena Dibella

director of Mountain and Rural Development, Torino, Italy, presented some examples of HNV farming where hygiene issue has been successfully surmounted. The key to success was the national implementation of the EU regulations. It was easier regarding cheese production than sausage, since the rules for the latter require separate rooms for each of the different stages of slaughtering and processing. Ways forward tried out in Torino included erecting a new factory managed by all the existing producers, which met all the rules. This necessitated changing the production organisation from individual to collective and sourcing money to support the producers from the Rural Development Plan and the Structural Funds (EFRD). Purely local (village level) markets are not sufficient to maintain the activity. The conclusion was that the interpretation of EU regulations is important and the role of national/regional authorities and local health autorithies is key. There is not enough technical support of farmers and craftmans and the exchange of information and creation of lobbies at a European level must increase.

Download: Session 3 – Elena Dibella (PDF 1.5 MB)

Raluca Barbu

from the WWF Danube Carpathian Programme in Romania discussed some examples of HNV farming threatened by hygiene regulations. Their experience of the implementation of the regulations was that even though they are very flexible and broad at a EU level, at a national level they have been implemented fully (and if anything more ambitiously) and simply (with no distinction between types of production). It would have been helpful if the EU legislation had been accompanied with suggested good practices. This might have help the interpretation of concepts such as “small quantities” at a national level. Presently the EU hygiene regulation is not integrated with rural development measures. Poorly promoted and untrained staff at the local level hinders the integration of the two policy measures. In Romania it was argued that the hygiene regulation has been put into force without any local preparation. In conclusion - supporting HNV farming in Romania requires area payments are needed as well as support for traditional production methods and communities.

Download: Session 3 – Raluca Barbu (PDF 5.4 MB)


 
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European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism
Online: http://www.efncp.org/events/conferences/uppsala/session3/
Date: 2024/03/28
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