The DBV, the largest German farmers' association, and dairy umbrella organization MIV (the German NZO) are against mandatory contracts for the supply of milk to the industry, as proposed by Minister Özdemir of agriculture. They accuse the minister of pretending to want to help farmers, while in practice he is only aiming for lower milk prices.
Strikingly the Deutsche Bauernverband is the most critical in terms of language, while the implementation of Article 148 of the Common Market Organization Regulation in German national legislation should actually help farmers.
However, the DBV does not feel helped at all by the legislation proposed by Özdemir, but speaks of distortion of given advice and calls the proposal 'a scandal'. Özdemir, a member of the German Greens, is said to only want to score cheap points in the ongoing election campaign.
Price, volume, and duration
Article 148 of the CMO has been discussed in Germany for almost 2 years. The aim of the European regulation is to strengthen farmers against industry and retail. Özdemir wants to do this by obliging farmers and dairy to make fixed agreements for at least 80% of the milk to be delivered regarding volume, price, and contract duration. According to him, cooperative dairy should also meet this requirement. This is to provide farmers with more operational security. Özdemir says he is basing his proposal on the advice of the Future Agriculture Commission.
According to the DBV, this is impossible because there are no recommendations from this commission on which the minister's proposals can be based. Holger Hennies, one of the vice-chairs of the DBV, was on the future commission and says he can prove directly that the minister is not telling the truth. According to Hennies, mandatory contracting only leads to lower milk prices for the farmer.
German dairy industry made lame
The German Milchindustrieverband (MIV) also has major objections, but on different points. According to this organization, the minister is crippling the dairy industry by imposing highly restrictive national regulations on a sector that must operate in an international and highly volatile market. Fundamental objections to Özdemir's plan are that with his proposals, he wants to limit free competition, thereby unilaterally weakening the German dairy industry. According to the MIV, his proposals also undermine the principle of contractual freedom.
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