The Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP) today welcomed the reinforcement of Government support, to 18 million euros, of the package of response measures to the crisis in the wine sector, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“CAP is pleased to note the announcement, made today by the Office of the Minister of Agriculture [Maria do Céu Albuquerque], that the reinforcement of the package of crisis measures to support the wine sector was approved to 18 million euros , with an increase from 10 to 12 million euros for the distillation measure and from 5 to 6 million euros for storage”, can be read in a CAP press release, released today.
The agricultural confederation also points out that the Government's measures include “different increases for wines with a designation of origin, with a geographical indication and also for wines from the mountain area”, something that “takes into account the different realities of the productive zones” .
“In addition to the crisis measures in support of the wine sector in the context of distillation and storage, it is worth mentioning the reinforcement of the value of the allocation of the Qualitative Reserve of Port Wine, which, according to what was announced by the Minister's Office, will be transferred to 5 million euros ”, also highlights CAP.
The confederation considers that the measures announced today "are necessary and decisive to mitigate the impact of the crisis and represent an important step in direct support to producers in a demanding context, which requires a firm and dedicated action translated into the increase of financial support".
However, CAP emphasizes that the increase in funds “does not completely solve the constraints of a sector with an important weight in the basket of products in the agri-food sector”, considering however that “it is a relevant contribution” at a time of uncertainty caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
According to today's Government announcement, as far as crisis distillation is concerned, the values go from 0,40 euros / liter to 0,60 euros / liter for wines with a designation of origin and 0,30 euros / liter to 0,45 euros / liter for wines with a geographical indication.
An increase was also approved for regions with viticulture in the mountain area of 0,15 euros / liter and 0,20 euros / liter, respectively.
As for the wine storage measure, the unit value doubles, from 0,08 euros a day / hectoliter (hl) to 0,16 euros a day / hl and the maximum amount per beneficiary from 7.500 euros to 15.000 euros.
These measures form part of the National Support Program for the Financial Year FEAGA (European Agricultural Guarantee Fund) 2020.
The holder of the portfolio of Agriculture, Maria do Céu Albuquerque, also announced the increase in the amount of the Qualitative Reserve of Port Wine, which now rises to five million euros.
This reinforcement of exceptional measures to support the wine sector is the result of a meeting with the ministry's bodies, namely the IVV (Institute of Vine and Wine) and IVDP (Institute of Douro and Porto Wines), where the result of measures approved by decree 148-A/2020 of June 19, as well as the impact of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in the wine sector.
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