What the outcome was of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 27 and 28 January 2003.

I attended the January Agriculture and Fisheries Council, together with Margaret Beckett, Elliot Morley, Lord Whitty, Ian Pearson, and Mike German. I was present on 27 January but returned from Brussels before the meeting concluded in order to handle the announcement of the fisheries compensation package on Tuesday 28 January.The Council began with the Greek Presidency presenting an outline of its priorities and planned work programme.On agriculture, the agenda covered two main areas, the Mid-term Review (MTR) of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and animal health.The Commission presented their draft legislative proposals for the CAP MTR which, with some modification, followed from their July 2002 proposals and subsequent debate. Member states gave their initial reactions and views varied widely. The UK emphasised the need for a sustainable CAP and welcomed the general direction of the proposals and the benefits they would bring to EU farmers although we would want to study the proposals in detail to assess their impact on particular sectors, such as beef. We noted, however, that the current modulation proposals put a disproportionate burden on larger and more efficient farms, and argued for a simpler, more equitable model. We also urged a faster and more substantial transfer of funds to rural development spending than proposed, including a fairer share of funds for the UK.The Commission presented a proposal for revision of EU measures to control and eradicate foot-and-mouth disease. The UK welcomed the opportunity to update the rules, while recognising that careful consideration of the issues would be needed before new strategies could be put in place. A Commission proposal for the individual identification of sheep and goats was also presented. The UK stressed the need for practical requirements which took account of the structure of the UK industry and the high level of animal movements associated with that.The Council unanimously agreed to ban the import of eggs and poultry from three US States where an outbreak of Newcastle Disease had occurred.The Commission's regular report on BSE-related developments identified that although there had been a significant increase in testing in 2002, the total number of cases identified was similar to that in 2001.Under other business, several delegations urged the Commission to keep the matter of processed poultry imports under review to ensure that there was no unfair exploitation of the discounted duty rates that apply. On GMOs, there was an exchange of views regarding the co-existence of GM and non-GM agriculture, with the UK supporting the case for fuller discussion but warning against attempts to impose a de facto moratorium on GM approvals. The Commission indicated that existing rules would continue to govern the approval of new GM products. New rules, following Council agreement in principle last November, were still under preparation and could not apply immediately.On fisheries, this was a very low-key Council agenda: Council adopted non-operational conclusions on two communications from the Commission and also received two initial presentations. The two sets of Council conclusions generally welcomed the Commission's communications. The first related to the integration of environmental protection requirements into the common fisheries policy and the second related to a European strategy for the development of aquaculture. The presentations from the Commission concerned a communication on developing a framework for third country fisheries agreements and a proposal for a revised and consolidated technical conservation regulation. Under "any other business", Council heard reports of the current state of affairs relating to equal Community access in the Western waters.