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Communications |
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Speech by the Hon. George Pullicino, Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment, during the handing over of the first bag of this year’s Malta potatoes to Dutch Minister for Agriculture Prof. Dr. Cees Veermaan |
Date:
06/04/2005
We are all gathered here to-day as guests of Messrs Hage’ International B.V. and Messrs Daalimpex B.V. to mark the 25th Anniversary that both companies have been active in business as partners dealing with the import of Malta’s Spring Crop potatoes.
As Minister responsible for Agriculture in Malta it gives me great pleasure to be here to keep up with the established tradition of handing over the first bag of this year’s Malta potatoes to my Dutch colleague, Prof Veerman, in the presence of such a distinguished gathering of people in the potato trade.
The potato crop constitutes a very important sector in Maltese Agriculture. Maltese farmers have been exporting potatoes for well over a hundred years and the export of early potatoes has continued to develop, over the years, to become Malta’s main agricultural export activity, involving over 800 small-scale farmers who grow their potato crop from certified seed potatoes mainly imported from the Dutch seed potato company Agrico.
In recent years, and even more so, since Malta’s accession to the European Union, and in line with modern standards of food safety, Maltese farmers have laid greater emphasis on quality rather than quantity ensuring the traceability of the product from field to table.
This is in line with the newly-established concepts laid down by the European Union.
It is with satisfaction that I inform you that following the introduction of Eurepgap Certification in 2003, all the Malta potatoes exported this year will be up to EUREPGAP standards certifying that the potato crop has been grown under EUREPGAP standards of food quality and food safety, acceptable to the leading retail groups in Europe and in line with customer expectations and demands.
It is with satisfaction that, as Minister responsible for Agriculture and the Environment, to-day all Maltese potato growers are able to demonstrate their commitment to:
• maintaining consumer confidence in food quality and safety;
• minimizing detrimental impact on the environment and nature conservation;
• reducing the use of agro-chemicals; and
• ensuring a responsible attitude towards worker health and safety.
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to augur continued success to our hosts Messrs Hage’ International B.V. and Messrs Daalimpex B.V. for the mutual benefit of Maltese potato growers and Dutch consumers, and in particular, I would like to thank Mr Peter Blankendaal of Messrs Daalimpex, who has become a friend of Malta over the years.
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