Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Jozsef Graf of Hungary
Budapest (AFX) - Agriculture minister Jozsef Graf said he was dissatisfied with the EU sugar deal, MTI news agency reported.
Earlier, Graf had projected that unfavourable weather conditions and other factors were likely to push food prices up by 15%-20% while the finance ministry regarded a 10%-15% increase as realistic.
AGBIOS :: HOME ::News ItemE-Mail StoryPrinter readyFarm ministry revisits GMO ban, minister calls for probe into risksPublication: MTIDate: Friday, March 07, 2008Hungary is still committed to its ban on genetically modified products (GMO), but an assessment of the risks involved should begin in preparation for any future lifting of the ban, Agriculture Minister Jozsef Graf said on Thursday at a conference on the topic.
Graf said it is not pressure from the EU that could most threaten GMO-free farming, but the fact that some of the neighbouring countries have already adopted GMO technology; maize seeds, for example, may simply travel and "infect" Hungarian fields.
Jozsef Graf is scheduled to sign a five-year agreement in the field of agriculture and allied sectors with Pawar later this evening in the presence of the prime ministers of the two countries.
Hungary has rejected an Italian offer targeting continued use of the traditional Hungarian Tokaji brand-name for wines, Hungarian Agricultural Minister Jozsef Graf said on Friday.
Talking to wine-farmers in the Tokaj region, northeastern Hungary, Graf said Italian wine-growers had approached Hungary with a proposal of paying "several million euros" if the country granted approval to them for continuing to sell wines produced in the Friuli region under the name Tocai.
Graf said Hungary is erring on the side of caution for now but it may later reconsider its stance on GMO’s, especially for use as biofuels, not for human consumption.
Graf said the move, which will also see as shared services centre being created, would cost around $430,000.
Graf said the move, which will also see as shared services centre being created, would cost around 80 million forints (430,000 dollars.
Graf said that his country had a national program on forestation covering 50 years.
Finance Minister Janos Veres opposes this, Graf said on Monday.
Hungary's Graf said turkey exported from Hungary to the UK was for human consumption and could not have reached a farm there, but he added that he did not want to get bogged down in a daily political debate with Britain.
Hungarian Agriculture Minister Jozsef Graf said the government had allocated 11 million euros to compensate farmers affected by the outbreak, the newspaper reported.