CROSS COMPLIANCE AND COMPETITIVENESS OF THE EUROPEAN BEEF AND PIG SECTOR

Beef and pig production are important sectors affected by the cross-compliance policy. Full compliance with SMRs and GAECs generates costs and benefits which may have an impact on the competitiveness of these sectors on the world market. Compliance with the Nitrate Directive, animal identification and registration requirements and animal welfare standards can give rise to non-negligible cost of production increases at individual farm level and at sector level. Additional costs can be relevant either due to a low degree of compliance or by significant adjustments costs at farm level. Full compliance generates a level playing field between Member States of the EU, as some countries have to face higher additional costs than others, which are be attributed to differences in degree of compliance. This paper first presents evidence of additional costs at individual farm level due to full compliance. Then for beef and pork a methodology has been developed in order to calculate sector cost impacts following an upcsaling procedure for each of the analysed directives. Simulations with the GTAP model have enabled an assessment of the trade effect of compliance with standards and the impact on the external competitiveness of the EU beef and pork production. In some policy fields covered by cross-compliance important trade partners such as Canada, USA and New Zealand have implemented policies similar to the EU. In these three countries comparable standards to those in the EU were identified and the level and cost of compliance have been assessed. The pig sector will be affected most by a unilateral compliance with standards in the EU, in particular as the Nitrate Directive is concerned. Within the EU pig production costs will rise by 0.545 %. Imports may increase by 4% and exports may fall by 3%. However full application of the Clean Water Act in the US, which contains similar obligations to the Nitrate Directive, generates a significant sector cost increase (1,08%) which may counterbalance the loss of competitiveness of EU pork production towards the US. Compliance with the mandatory animal welfare standards has only minor cost implications and has negligible effects on external competitiveness of the EU both because of a high degree of compliance and relatively low adjustment costs at farm level. Finally, in many EU member states the degree of compliance of beef farms with the animal registration and identification directives is below 100%. Additional costs for full compliance within the EU have been estimated at 0.455%, which may cause an increase of beef imports of 2.21% and a decline of exports of –2.12%. This loss in competitiveness of the EU will further favour the position of Brazil on the world beef market. At the other hand significant benefits are obtained in food security of EU beef.Cross compliance, beef sector, pork sector, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q10, Q18,

Facing new EU policies towards animal welfare improvement. The relative importance of pig castration

Postprint (published version

Intervention concepts for energy saving, recovery and generation from the urban water system

There are numerous options for energy measures in the water sector ranging from water conservation and process efficiency improvements to new technologies and redesigning water systems. Next to energy efficiency improvements, there is a need for new concepts in which water is viewed as a carrier of energy. Municipal wastewater is a potential source of chemical energy, i.e. organic carbon that can be recovered as biogas in sludge digestion. Even more so, domestic (waste)water is a source of thermal energy. And in areas with altitude differences, installing micro-hydro technologies in water distribution systems can convert energy from the pressure and flow into electricity. This report presents intervention concepts for energy saving, recovery and generation from the urban water system. Summarised, the main outcomes of research undertaken at 9 case studies are: i) Algarve and Alcoy water supply system: by performing an energy audit, the most energy efficient operating scheme can be determined. ii) Oslo and Amsterdam water cycle: the thermal energy recovery potential from wastewater is large, and it is in particular feasible if coupled to aquifer thermal energy storage systems. iii) Schiphol and Athens wastewater treatment: the energy generation at wastewater treatment plants through biogas can be enhanced by co-digestion and thermophilic digestion. iv) Lanhirano, Athens and Algare water supply system: in a water distribution system, water and energy can be saved by integrating pressure and energy management., i.e. by installing micro-turbines.Frijns, J.; Monteiro, A.; De Graaff, M.; Carriço, N.; Covas, D.; Cabrera Marcet, E.; Lausund, E.... (2014). Intervention concepts for energy saving, recovery and generation from the urban water system. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/4662

The dynamics of the Parmigiano-Reggiano production system

This paper contains an analysis of the dynamics of the economic behaviour of the cheese dairies operating within the "Parmigiano-Reggiano" (PR) cheese production system. These firms play a crucial role in the supply chain of this highly artisanal product, which interests over 15% of Italian milk production. The analysis is focused in particular on the nature of the up and downstream relationships of the cheese dairies. Sub-chains are identified characterised by stable and constant relationships between dairy farmers, cheese dairies and who/esaler-ripeners, which contribute significantly to the reduction of transaction costs. Cheese dairies have only limited possibilities for product diversification. This strategy is performed essentially by the cheese ripening firms. Cheese production techniques remain primarily artisanal, where the cheese-maker continues to play a key role in the quality definition of the cheese. However, standardisation practices are introduced to comply with the demand of the large retailers, increasingly asking for cheese Jots with constant and limited quality variations. The profitability of the PR system is highly cyclical and the market transparency is low, but five-year averages show that the remuneration of labour and capital invested on the dairy farms and the cheese dairies is satisfactory

The interrelationships between the PDO product's specification, its link to the terroir and its technological development

This paper is based on an European study on products with a Protected Denomination of Origin and particularly analyses four cheeses and their supply chain : Parmigiano-Reggiano, the Grana Padano, the Comté and the Cantal. After short theoretical considerations concerning technological development in agriculture, the importance for a PDO product to be very specific in order to differentiate itself from substitutes product is explained. This specificity must have a link with the product terroir. This paper looks then at how the link between a product and its terroir can be defined in the product's specification (code of practices) and how it can be threatened by technological changes. A supply chain can indeed take advantage of a loose code of practice to reduce its costs production and standardise its production, but such a development not necessarily generates overall benefits for the supply chain. The players' strategy might however rather tend to reinforce the specific technological trajectory of the product in order to strengthen its specificity. We will finally see how the co-ordination within a supply chain and the actors' motivation are important to preserve the product uniqueness

The Energy & Raw Materials Factory : Role and Potential Contribution to the Circular Economy of the Netherlands

Water is an abundant resource worldwide, but fresh and clean water is scarce in many areas of the world. Increases in water consumption and climate change will affect global water security even further in the near future. With increasing numbers of people living in metropolitan areas, water, energy, and materials need to be used carefully, reused and renewed. Resource scarcity is the driver behind the circular economy. The recovery of materials and energy can add significant new value streams and improve cost recovery and water quality. In this paper, we present the creation of the Energy & Raw Materials Factory (ERMF) of the Dutch Water Authorities, also known as the Resource Factory, as one of the solutions to this global challenge of water in the circular economy. Resources like cellulose, bioplastics, phosphate, alginate-like exopolymers from aerobic granular sludge (bio-ALE), and biomass can be recovered. Bio-ALE is an alginate-like polymer of sugars and proteins and can be used in agriculture and horticulture, the paper industry, medical, and construction industries. The ERMF demands significant investments but the return on investment is high both from a financial and environmental perspective, provided that markets can be realized. Experiences in the Netherlands show that the concept of the ERMF is viable and adds to the creation of a circular economy. Achieving climate neutrality and production of new and promising resources like bio-ALE are possible. The ERMF can contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations on water and sanitation, once fully operational

The Energy & Raw Materials Factory: Role and Potential Contribution to the Circular Economy of the Netherlands

Water is an abundant resource worldwide, but fresh and clean water is scarce in many areas of the world. Increases in water consumption and climate change will affect global water security even further in the near future. With increasing numbers of people living in metropolitan areas, water, energy, and materials need to be used carefully, reused and renewed. Resource scarcity is the driver behind the circular economy. The recovery of materials and energy can add significant new value streams and improve cost recovery and water quality. In this paper, we present the creation of the Energy & Raw Materials Factory (ERMF) of the Dutch Water Authorities, also known as the Resource Factory, as one of the solutions to this global challenge of water in the circular economy. Resources like cellulose, bioplastics, phosphate, alginate-like exopolymers from aerobic granular sludge (bio-ALE), and biomass can be recovered. Bio-ALE is an alginate-like polymer of sugars and proteins and can be used in agriculture and horticulture, the paper industry, medical, and construction industries. The ERMF demands significant investments but the return on investment is high both from a financial and environmental perspective, provided that markets can be realized. Experiences in the Netherlands show that the concept of the ERMF is viable and adds to the creation of a circular economy. Achieving climate neutrality and production of new and promising resources like bio-ALE are possible. The ERMF can contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations on water and sanitation, once fully operational

Interprofession and typical products: the case of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

In the modern agri-food sector the need of manage quality and to improve market efficiency has generated new form of governance along the food chain. Even for typical products inter-profession organization is considered one of the most interesting institutions able to link the production phase to the commercialization phase, according to the more general objective to generate a more efficient contract-based relationship between the companies operating in the various phases of the same supply chain. In this framework, this work would like to analyse the specific case of the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese supply chain in relation to the role that an interprofessional body could play and the possibility that it could be established in order to support and increase the action of the protection consortium, or to take over some of its functions. The analysis on the Statute and on the real organization of the Consortium show that this organization is not an interprofessional body as it does not represent all the parties in the supply chain and lacks the other requirements laid down in the other experience. In the case of Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, it appears necessary to overcome the individualism of the single operators to unite them in associative forms which are able to mediate and represent the collective interests which, in the case of a PDO products, are the substance itself of the history and nature of the product and the relations which link the various operators together. At this condition the Consortium can become the “third party body” protecting the overall interests of the supply chain which is internally expressed democratically and, if possible, unanimously, as is seen in the French experience