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October Agriculture and Fisheries Council

My Hon Friend George Eustice (Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) has today made the following statement:

Agriculture and Fisheries Council takes place in Luxembourg on 14-15 October.

As the provisional agenda stands, the main item for fisheries will be fixing the fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2020. Member States will also discuss the Regulation on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) for which a preliminary agreement on the proposal, a partial general approach (PGA), is sought in Council. Ministers will also exchange views on the annual EU-Norway consultation for 2020 and on the 22^nd annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which will be held in Palma de Mallorca on 18-25 November 2019.

In the field of agriculture the main focus will be the state of play on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform package. Member States will also exchange views on the EU Forest Strategy post-2020 followed by a presentation by the Commission and an exchange of views on stepping up EU action to protect and restore the world’s forests. The Commission will also brief Member States on the market situation.

There are currently five items scheduled under ‘any other business’:

• The Presidency will brief Ministers on the outcome of the European Bioeconomy Scene 2019, which was held in Helsinki on 8-10 July;

• The Slovenian delegation will brief on the outcome of the Ministerial conference “Strengthening the Generation and Transfer of Knowledge for the Progress of Agriculture and the Rural Areas”, which took place in Ptuj, Slovenia on 23 August 2019;

• The Italian delegation will provide information on the serious damages caused by the Asian stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) to the fruit and vegetables sector;

• The Commission will give a state of play on African Swine fever; and

• The Commission will provide a state of play on the major issues within food safety.