The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Environment stated in Graciosa that the outcome of the European Council of Agricultural Ministers was "not satisfactory." The European Commissioner Phil Hogan maintained an uncompromising position regarding the adoption of exceptional measures requested by twenty Member States for the dairy sector.
 
Luís Neto Viveiros pointed out that "there were promises to address the matter" in the next Council, scheduled for September, which "may reveal a certain degree of willingness." However, there is an "urgent need for the EU Commission to take exceptional measures" in an exceptional situation whose impact will directly affect the Azores.

"It cannot continue to distance itself from this problem," the government official said, ensuring that the Region will continue "to defend and insist on its position" at all forums.

The Regional Secretary for Agriculture also regretted the announcement of the Russian ban for another year. According to him, the decision taken in Brussels to extend beyond September the aid system for private storage of butter, skimmed powdered milk and certain cheeses, to which regional entrepreneurs had access through IFAP, is no longer sufficient due condition of markets and their deregulation.

Despite the extraordinary aid granted to milk producers in the Baltic countries and Finland, amounting to 41 million Euros, these countries requested Monday additional temporary measures to cope with the fall in prices. This claim is shared, among others, by France, Spain and England.

Speaking on the sidelines of a visit to a dairy farm in Pontal, located in the village of Guadalupe, Neto Viveiros considered that this first installation project of a young farmer from Graciosa, co-financed by PRORURAL, reflects the investment that has been made in modernisation of agriculture.

"The aim is to render it more competitive by combining a series of investments in equipment, including a modern milking parlour, which will allow to improve milk production, with better quality and better conditions," said the Regional Secretary.