The organization of 1st Forum of Cretan Products in Brussels with the support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Region of Crete, the Minister of Rural Development and Food Lefteris Avgenakis announced from his podium the 12th Pangretian Forum in Heraklion organized by the Chambers of Crete, which, as the minister emphasized, contribute decisively to the strengthening of rural development .

The 12th Forum surpassed all previous ones as 730 entrepreneurs participated and 19,200 B2B meetings took place.

The Minister of Rural Development and Food announced that the 3rd Pankrit Forum for the promotion of Cretan products in Athens will take place on April 19 and 20 at the HELEXPO facilities in Maroussi, under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Joint actions for CAP

As the minister said, the support of the primary sector by the government is a given, as it recognizes the great contribution of our producers to the development of the Greek economy. He referred to the demands of the farmers for changes in the CAP to make it friendlier, more functional and less bureaucratic, stressing that the 19.3 billion of the new CAP offer great development opportunities for all Greek farmers. “The government is on the side of producers and is taking essential steps to provide immediate solutions to their problems and answers to their fair claims,” ​​he said characteristically, recalling that Greece is the first country to submit 19 changes to the CAP adopted by the EPP and the majority of EU countries. At the same time, he sounded the alarm that if the necessary changes are not made in the CAP, no member state will manage to absorb 100% of the resources to which it is entitled, a development that will hurt farmers.

The Ministry of Agriculture stressed that in order to advance the interests of farmers, common ones are needed at the European level and called again on the opposition parties to activate within the framework of the Eurogroups they belong to to support the changes needed to make the CAP more functional and useful for actions the farmers. Referring, however, to the initiatives of our country, he noted that “Greece is leading developments in Europe” either through the actions it has developed in EUMED-9, or through the EPP. “I assure you that we are doing everything we can to resolve the shortcomings of the existing form of the CAP, and to ensure the viability of the Greek primary sector,” he said.

Referring to the ongoing community programs for the development of the agri-food sector, he recalled that 135 million euros are available for the development and improvement of the competitiveness of manufacturing products through support programs from 400 thousand to 5 million euros per proposal.

As far as Crete is concerned, he emphasized that over 170 million euros have been allocated through the olive oil, honey and wine sectoral programs

Setting for the transport equivalent

He made special reference to the measures taken by the government to reduce production costs, citing as typical examples the reduced electricity prices and the continued payment of the VAT on agricultural oil.

Regarding the problem with the transport equivalent for Crete, the Ministry of Transport and Communications emphasized that the government has listened to the concerns of producers and defends the right of Crete to be included in the transport equivalent measures for businesses as it applies to all the island regions of Greece.

He also announced that together with the Chambers and the Ministry of Shipping we agreed to allocate 25% of the total budget of the equivalent, or 10 million euros, to Crete for 2023.

Also, the companies of Crete will be treated as companies of large islands and therefore the compensation percentage (ANEKO) rises from 20% to 40%.

He also announced that 7.8 out of the 10.8 million euros of the emergency support program for livestock breeders “AMALTHEIA” will be allocated to Crete, which will go to island areas.

Strengthening Interprofessional

Regarding the controls, he repeated that he himself is not going to back down and that he is not going to give himself up to anyone. He also said that the HYPAAT gives special importance to their continuation and intensification, especially in view of the Easter season.

With the aim of maximizing the intensity of the farmers’ voice, Lefteris Avgenakis said that the FSA gives priority to the establishment of new Interprofessional Organizations, once again calling on the Cretans to create an Interprofessional Organization of Graviera PDO Cretan producers

The aim of the Ministry of AAT is to add Interprofessional Organizations for the following branches to the existing eight Interprofessional ones:

Fishing,

Aquaculture,

Honey,

Peach,

Oil and

Graviera of Crete PDO

He also announced that a bill that will strengthen and improve the operation of the Interprofessional organizations will soon come to the Parliament.

The Agricultural Departments of the Chambers

Referring to the Agricultural Departments in the Chambers, he announced that already 20 Chambers across the country, with the first one in Chania, are almost ready to proceed with the establishment of Agricultural Departments.

As he explained, in the agricultural sections all the producers of the primary sector who carry out commercial activity will be registered. And in these a register of farmers will be set up which is interconnected with the Register of Farmers and Agricultural Holdings.

Messara “pilot” school

The Minister of Rural Development and Food made a special reference to the upgrade of the Agricultural School of Messara, which will function as “a pilot school of the new model for agricultural schools that YPAAT intends to implement throughout the territory. In fact, he announced that the School’s masterplan has been completed and the Businessplan is expected to be completed as well. This, he said, is an initiative that puts Crete at the forefront of our efforts to promote innovation, research and high-level agricultural education.”

Finally, he announced that by Easter the operational plan of the Agricultural Products Directorate in Katsamba will be ready, in collaboration with the Region and the Municipality of Heraklion and with the aim of saving resources and reducing the suffering of citizens.

The Minister of Rural Development and Food, accompanied by the Regional Governor Stavros Arnautakis, Mayors, the presidents of the Chambers of Crete and self-governing officials, toured the stands and discussed with the exhibitors.