Stage 2 of the Milk Quota Scheme Announced

IRELAND - The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Mary Coughlan T.D., has announced that the closing date for receipt of applications for the second stage of the 2008/2009 Milk Quota Trading Scheme will be Friday 1 February 2008.

10 January 2008

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"I now want to ensure that the second exchange is completed before the end of the current milk quota year"

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Mary Coughlan T.D.

Restating her satisfaction with the outcome of the first stage, the Minister commented: “I am pleased that the changes made to the operation of the Trading Scheme contributed to a very high rate of trade before Christmas. I now want to ensure that the second exchange is completed before the end of the current milk quota year, and I believe that the 1 February deadline will facilitate this. A formal review will therefore not take place at this point, but, as was the case last year, a comprehensive review of the Scheme with all stakeholders will take place after the second exchange has been completed”.

The Minister confirmed that the Scheme will once more comprise a priority pool and a market exchange. The maximum price for quota from the priority pool will remain at 12 cent per litre, and the maximum quantity available to individual producers will remain at 80,000 litres. A 3:2 ratio will again apply to the distribution of quota from the priority pool to young farmers and Category 1 producers, and the option for sellers to sell at one or two cent per litre below their original offer price will be made available in the same ten Co-op areas as in the first stage.

The Minister also took the opportunity to alert milk producers to the existence of a new Milk Quota Trader number, which is a unique identifier that has been assigned to all those who have participated in the Trading Scheme to date. Applicants to the first stage of the 2008/2009 scheme will be advised of their Milk Quota Trader number by their Co-op in the normal processing of the results, and those intending to apply again to the second stage should quote this number on their application forms, in addition to the usual information.