The Regional Government and the Azores Agricultural Federation (FAA) are analysing together the support measures that have brought "stability and added value to the Region in recent years, raising the Azores to prominence as an industrious and productive region as well as an exporter of quality meat."

For the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry, it is necessary to continue this path and make the best use of all investments that have been made in the genetic quality of animals, the improvement of the regional slaughter network and the creation of new opportunities for operators in the meat sector by involving producers and their organisations.

At the end of a meeting with the Board of FAA, which was held with the aim of analysing the financial execution of POSEI and the existing support measures for the sale of calves in the Region, Noé Rodrigues stated that difficulties will grow in live cattle export due to issues related to animal well-being and transport.

"What is happening today is that some people appear in the Azores once a month, such as the case of MEP Patrão Neves, who demands increases in financial envelopes without having the courage to say to which farmers should we remove their subsidies to allocate them to four calf pens on the island of São Miguel," stressed the government official.

The Regional Government is studying in collaboration with FAA the measures from which it is possible to remove funds for an eventual change in the support granted to operators in the meat sector. According to Noé Rodrigues, this "will not be easy as the beneficiaries of these support measures do not want to see the amounts reduced for the benefit of only four" calf pens.

The measure for the removal of calves from the market has been substantially reduced in recent years through various initiatives that have allowed placing meat ready for consumption on the market, which is "a goal that we must maintain."