Representatives of the agriculture chambers of the Visegrad Four countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) ask for their sectors to be excluded out of the trade agreements between the EU and the US (TTIP) and with Canada (CETA). They introduced their stance in their media release issued in the western Slovak town of Modra on Friday. As the document reads, the liberalisation of plant and animal products import to the EU, could decrease the countries food security. "If we will not have detailed information about the negotiations and have the agreements in our hands, we suggest that agriculture and food sector is excluded from the negotiations regarding the international trade agreements," said head of the Slovak Agricultural and Food Chamber Milan Semančík. In September, Government Proxy for the Slovak Presidency of the EU Council Ivan Korčok praised the atmosphere of the negotiations regarding CETA and called them transparent.
The Chambers' representatives also discussed restrictions regarding farmland purchases in their countries. Since March 2015, the European Commission has been criticising Slovak legislation regarding farmland purchases, as the current rules favour Slovak citizens, who have been living in the country for ten years and have been running farming business for at least three years. This formulation is in conflict with the Union's regulations and according to the Commission discriminates against the citizens of another EU member states. "We have prepared a draft bill on farmland protection and we refuse the objections of the European Commission. We can remove the requirement of being a citizen for at least 10 years. However, we don't plan any further changes," said Semančík.
The participants of the meeting also discussed the situation at the food market. According to Semančík, the current situation favours so called 'big players' and the newer members of the EU have lost significant part of their production since entering the Union.
