04/02/2008 
”Sadomasochism” - A comment by Franz Meyer zu Holte, ISN Chairman
Sadomasochism: that means going for tantalizing others and being tantalized oneself. To the European pig keepers, both the current EU policy and the national policy very much look like being sheer sadomasochism.
One of the reasons for the European pig price to not get off the ground certainly is the strain the prices are under for serving the global market. But every kind of positive approach, such as export reimbursement, China initiatives and others, is ailing as a result of varying expense situations found to be predominant in the pig-exporting countries. While corn may be fed at a price of EUR 10 per tenth of a ton in the USA, the EU still debates about what GMO- (genetically modified organism) sorts of feed may be issued admission as feedstuff.
Everyone knows about the problem which is coming up to us: the European livestock owners will not be receiving enough protein feedstuff. But as a consequence of inexplicable fears of Greenpeace and assumed worries of our customers – who feel to be so enlightened! – this problem is dealt with in a very slow matter only. On the absorptive global markets, our meat exporters fight using different methods: For feedstuff reasons alone, production costs in Europe are found to be 20 cents more expensive per kg pork than they are at the competitors’ – and not to mention the environmental and social standards!
In markets as crowded as Europe’s markets are, it would be better that home-made barriers would not additionally burden production. With the new laws on genetic engineering, the whole issue was misdirected anew. We do not at all object GMO-free products to be labelled.
But indeed it’s a scandal, all this hypocrisy which is displayed today. Amino acids, enzymes and others which are genetically engineered are allowed to be produced, because such products are no longer obtainable in other ways anymore. So, what’s going to happen if, by chance, the global demand of GMO-free bruised soy could not be satisfied any longer? What if the crop growing countries gave a tinker’s damn about European fears, because no-one would ever be interested in them anywhere in Asia?
At this stage, we had to completely dispense the market with low-priced US corn gluten flour.
An EFSA study (European Food Safety Authority) foretells that unless the EU’s GMO policy were changed immediately, one third of the whole livestock improvement industry would plunge by a third.
But maybe that’s just what so many NGOs want it to be. Anyway, it seems to have to come into vogue to tell the consumer what he’d best eat.
Well then, enjoy the meat from abroad!
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