The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry condemned this Friday the situation taking place in certain national commercial establishment regarding the sales of milk, from foreign countries, at half of the price paid to producers. The government official considered this practice "as immoral and that should be condemned as it is detrimental to the interest of national milk production."

Questioned by journalists about the situation at the end of a meeting with MEP, Luís Paulo Alves, Noé Rodrigues said that "these practices may not be completely legal and should be condemned by national authorities and particularly by Community entities."

For the Regional Secretary, EU marketing rules are defined by the European Commission and, thus, these Community bodies should set the guidelines and punishment for such situations.

If this practice is extended to the Azorean territory, Noé Rodrigues believes it would be "painful" for the Azores since "we have been carrying out a successful, intensive and in-depth work towards the restructuring of the dairy sector over the past few years."

Regarding the meeting with Luís Paulo Alves, the government official welcomed the introduction of tangible proposals on Community legislation designed to protect the continuity of a profitable and competitive sustainable agriculture in the Azores.