Dairy

Lithuanian dairy producers are holding a protest in Vilnius today to attract attention to the problems they are experiencing in the country's dairy market with about 1,500 farmers attending the demonstration, according to the police.

European Union Commissioner for agriculture Phil Hogan is coming to Lithuania to take part in the Baltic agriculture show AgroBalt 2016 in Kaunas this week.

On Friday, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said that China will allow Lithuanian dairy products to enter the Chinese market and that Chinese certificates will soon reach Lithuania.

The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has decided to temporarily set a minimum price for raw milk purchased by processors from dairy farmers. The price controls will remain in effect until 1 January 2017.

About 3,000 dairy farmers are planning to rally outside the Ministry of Agriculture in Vilnius next week, demanding government assistance amidst collapsing milk prices.

Lithuania's Labour Party, whose delegate, Virginija Baltraitienė, is currently serving as the Minister of Agriculture, has proposed a controversial law to protect dairy producers that has critics, even those in the dairy industry, scratching their heads.

The European Commission has denied a request for €75 million in support for Lithuanian dairy farmers submitted by Lithuanian Minister of Agriculture Virginija Baltraitienė at the beginning of the month.

A number of quality control and labelling violations have been detected in imported Polish dairy products, according to Lithuania’s State Food and Veterinary Service.

The famous Lithuanian cheese Džiugas has been found in Russian stores but marked as “Made in Argentina”.

Lithuania’s Agriculture Minister has submitted a request to the European Commission for an additional €75 million in EU funding to support the dairy sector in Lithuania.

The polish dairy industry has ambitions to win over a significant part of the Lithuanian dairy product market with increased promotion of a range of products in the country.

Over the last decade, Lithuanians' dietary tastes have undergone a major shift and that reflects changes in society as much as changes in taste.

Milk producers being hit by significant losses are calling for resignation of the Minister of Agriculture and say in the absence of government support, they will bring cows into the centre of Vilnius in protest by the end of March.

Lithuania may soon be able to export its dairy products to China as the country is due to receive certificates that allows entry of its dairy products into Chinese markets.

Lithuanian meat and milk processors and the Ministry of Economy have created a joint working group to prepare and implement a plan to expand Lithuanian food exports in emerging markets.

Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has met with dairy producers and promised to inform them in two weeks how the state could assist the dairy production cooperative Pienas LT, enhance possibilities for cooperation of farmers and boost competitiveness of Lithuania's dairy sector.

The European Union's (EU) milk producers, including 50 farmers from Lithuania, on Monday will protest in Brussels. Farmers say they incur huge losses due to low milk purchase prices and the Russian embargo and therefore demand an assistance mechanism.

Despite a difficult situation in Lithuania's milk sector, President Dalia Grybauskaitė says that prices have to be regulated under market conditions rather than artificially.

Statistics Lithuania reports that in June, the volume of Lithuania's exports decreased by 3.6 percent on a year-on-year basis. But the decrease was influenced by a significant fall of re-exports, since exports of Lithuanian-made goods grew by 3.7 percent.

This week, representatives of China's Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) are paying a visit to Lithuania.