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Russia’s Food Embargo Ruining French Farming Industry

© AFP 2023 / EMMANUEL DUNAND Fake cows brought by dairy farmers staging a demonstration stand in front of the European Parliament during a protest against the end of European milk quotas, in Brussels, March 31, 2015
Fake cows brought by dairy farmers staging a demonstration stand in front of the European Parliament during a protest against the end of European milk quotas, in Brussels, March 31, 2015 - Sputnik International
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The food ban imposed by Russia in response to Western sacntions is one of the main reasons behind the ongoing agricultural crisis in Europe.

French farmers converge on Paris, driving their tractors on the motorway, outside Paris, France, September 3, 2015 - Sputnik International
French Farmers Stage Tractor Protest in Paris
The crisis which has hit the European agricultural industry in many respects was provoked by a food embargo imposed by Russia in response to Western sanctions, Bertrand Venteau, former chairman of the French Rural Coordination and current administrator of the ASP, told Sputnik France.

Last week, several thousand French farmers staged protests in Paris against the agricultural policy of their country. They also demanded the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions. The government pledged to support the farming industry with a €600 million aid package.

"The crisis is linked with two major problems. First, the European market lacks proper regulatory mechanisms. Second, the policy of cooperatives downed factory prices while they were created for the opposite goal," Venteau said.

The measures proposed by French President Francois Hollande would have minimum effect on the industry, he added.

"The Russian food embargo has resulted in a glut in the farming market, especially in the pork market, as Russia was the main market for Brittany and Germany," the expert explained.

"After Moscow closed its market for European farmers they have to sell their products at loss. Some of them went broke. There is a serious threat for the pork and apple markets in France," he said.

The problem could be solved through maintaining food self-sufficiency on the European market by matching supply and demand. From this point of view, the issue has become part of a broader structural crisis and should be addressed by EU authorities, Venteau concluded.

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