The President of the Government highlighted today the work developed by regional milk producers and the dairy industry in promoting quality; the latter represents a commitment between several parts of this sector that is essential to overcome the challenging times it faces.
 
After attending the launch of the new product "Pasture Milk," under the "Happy Cows" programme developed by BEL Portugal involving Azorean producers, Vasco Cordeiro stressed that the message of this quality promotion initiative must reach the European Commission in order to demonstrate that milk producers are not the cause of the challenging times the sector is facing.
 
"The root of the problem is not production, but rather the provision of an outlet for the dairy products and, in the face of that, Community institutions defend the adoption of measures to reduce production, said the President of the Government, who spoke at the end of the round table "Differentiate with Value in the Portuguese Milk and Dairy Market."
 
The President of the Government, who had opened the new production line of Ribeira Grande plant, defended the "need to strive and fight so that we can be successful with the conditions and the potential we have."
 
According to him, the investment made by this industry is also a demonstration of hope and confidence in the Azorean dairy sector, a particularly challenging time for the industry, through a project that embodies a commitment between production and processing.
 
"This represents the commitment of producers to do well what they do well, produce with quality. In turn, the processing sector is committed to enhance this asset, treating it as best as possible and remunerating the efforts and investment of producers," said the government official.
 
"The third value is related to the investment in the Region's own resources. I am delighted to see the evidence of what has been possible to perfect and achieve in the Autonomous Region of the Azores as the result of an effort that has been undertaken for many years," stressed Vasco Cordeiro.
 
"We are privileged Azoreans for living in the land where we live and believing that those who have the opportunity to share with us the fruits of this land are also privileged," said the government official.
 
Given the current situation, the Regional Government has approved in late 2015 a package of measures to support the dairy sector, amounting to five million Euros, which corresponds to a financial allocation higher than the aid granted by the European Union to the entire country.
 
In addition to these and many other measures, the Government has recently implemented a Restructuring Programme for the Dairy Sector that provides a financial compensation to milk producers who wish to definitively abandon this production.
 
The Government has also decided to create another support measure for Azorean agriculture, through a line of credit designated as SAFIAGRI III, to compensate the financial burden, namely interest fees and stamp duty taxes applied to investments in regional farms.