Tuesday, September 1, in Koblenz (Germany), the informal meeting of the EU Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries will be held, where Ministers of the Member States will discuss, in presence and distantly, lessons learned during the crisis, caused by Covid-19 pandemia – sustainability of agriculture and food industry. The Presidency of Germany suggested the discussion on some of the experiences gained during Covid-19 crisis, which should be focused on to ensure that the EU is better prepared and capable of responding in case a similar global crisis emerge also in the future.
Kaspars Grehards, the Minister for Agriculture: “In crisis situations, the national economy must be able to satisfy the basic needs of its inhabitants, and one of such needs is a sufficient daily provision of inhabitants with food. This factor is also equally important on the European Union common market. In order to strengthen independence of food supplies and ensure an interrupted operation of supply chains, different additional support measures should be envisaged for short-term or long-term crisis situations. I am satisfied that during Covid-19 crisis, particularly at its initial stage, we, in Latvia managed to ensure uninterrupted food supply for inhabitants.”
The Ministry of Agriculture points out that certain measures must be implemented and efforts must be made at the EU level to lessen the EU dependence on imported food and feed thus, strengthening the independence of food supplies and making food supply chains shorter. Besides, it is essential to focus on the development of shorter supply chains. Just as important is a purposeful joint work of researchers and producers toward extending shelf life of foodstuffs.