'No measures in trade in phosphate rights'

The trade in phosphate rights first gets the chance to prove itself, which is why Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) will not intervene for the time being. In addition, trade must function fairly and transparently. "Speculation does not fit with that," said Schouten.

Helma Lodders (VVD) asked parliamentary questions about the trade in phosphate rights at the end of December. This is because large amounts of money are involved and there were concerns about the fairness of the trade. The answers took a while, but at the beginning of May Schouten will come with a response.

"I agree with the member Lodders that it is important that the system of phosphate rights functions honestly and transparently," writes Schouten. With that, she joins Lodders. "Speculation to achieve financial gain without contributing to the development of dairy farming does not fit in here."

No statements about price
In total, 85 million kilos of rights have been issued. The minister does not make any statements about the price, because it is determined in the market. "In my role as minister, I do not want to speculate about the price, or make statements that could influence price formation."

The tradability is curtailed in a few ways. For example, only a company that is an agricultural enterprise according to the Fertilizers Act may have rights. On the other hand, a buyer can only use the rights if the transaction has been registered with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl).

'No signals received yet'
Schouten indicates that he sees no reason to intervene yet. She wants to give the system a chance to prove itself first. "Since the system was introduced, I have not received any signals that money is being made in an improper way from the phosphate rights." This does not alter the fact that Schouten is urging entrepreneurs to report abuses to RVO.nl. Based on this, a decision can be made as to whether intervention is necessary.

Herman van den Pol

Herma van den Pol has been with us since 2011 Boerenbusiness and has developed over the years into a market expert Milk & Feed. In addition, she can be seen weekly in the market flash about the dairy market.

h.vandenpol@boerenbusiness. Nl

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