The United Kingdom was one of the countries to vote this week for early termination of private storage aid for pigmeat.
"Consequently producers on this side of the Channel, grappling with the fastest price falls for more than a generation, will view Elizabeth Truss's much-trumpeted support for British farming with some cynicism", said the National Pig Association.
"The decision was all the more of a shock because only a week earlier farms commissioner Phil Hogan told MEPs the markets for both dairy and pigmeat commodities were in 'a very serious situation'.
"And he promised to consider extending the storage schemes — 'if I can match the money to do that'.
The short-lived scheme has taken nearly 90,000 tonnes of pigmeat and fat off the market, equivalent to around 4.5 percent of monthly slaughter in the European Union.
Brussels claims it has done its job because there are indications "of a modest recovery in prices in the early weeks of 2016".
Private storage aid was introduced on January 4, against a backdrop of prices slumping more than 20 percent below the five-year average, as Russia's on-going food import ban added to oversupply on the domestic market.
AGAINST CLOSING
Countries to vote against ending the scheme this week were:
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Ireland
• France
• Hungary
• Croatia
• Austria
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
IN FAVOUR OF CLOSING
Voting in favour of termination, were:
• United Kingdom
• Belgium
• Czech Republic
• Germany
• Greece
• Spain
• Italy
• Cyprus
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Slovakia
• Finland
• Sweden
The NPA said, "Ministers from several of these countries will have some explaining to do, to their pig producers back home.
"They will say they were persuaded by the Commission's view that there was a risk of speculation on the market because the more meat being stored, the more will return to the market in a few months all at once which risks bringing an imbalance".
