LNV and STAF in discussion again about feed rail?

This morning (30 July) the judge did not rule during the summary proceedings that the STAF and Nitrogen Claim foundations filed against the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Both parties have been advised to discuss the full substantiation of the ministerial feed measure again.

However, the judge has established that the Ministry of LNV is not withholding any information about the substantiation of the contested ministerial feed measure, with which Minister Schouten wants to create nitrogen space this year. So that the economic development of the construction world is not slowed down.

Holiday delay
The STAF and Stikstofclaim foundations see all the more reason in the conversation with the judge to assume that the ministry is training the case and thus delaying it. The official who knows most about the substantiation of the feed measure is on vacation and his reasoning has apparently not been put on paper. Spokesperson Geesje Rotgers: "His reasoning is exactly what we want to know." 

Spokesperson Rudi Buis of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality said that he was pleased with the judge's finding that no information was being withheld. "It is annoying that it is suggested again and again that the ministry is deliberately withholding information. But we will heed the judge's call to discuss the full substantiation again." It is not yet clear when that meeting will take place, partly due to holidays.

Interpretation differences
There will always be room for different interpretations of the feed measure, Buis acknowledges. The ministerial feed measure is comparable to the division into farm types and categories on which the Manure legislation and the legislation surrounding the phosphate rights system are based. The classification of this legislation is also arbitrary to a certain extent.

In the ministerial feed measure, nine farm types are distinguished on the basis of BIN data (the former LEI accounting) and CBS data, depending on soil type and milk production per hectare. An exceptional measure has also been built in, whereby the prescribed maximum percentage of crude protein in feed materials may be deviated from. Spokesperson Geesje Rotgers: "We want to know why this classification and working method was chosen. That needs to be better substantiated."

The foundations are supported in their position by the fact that both the Committee for Expert Fertilizers (CDM) and the veterinary organization KNMvD are very critical in their assessment of the ministry's feed measure.  

But Buis does not agree that the Ministry of LNV deviates more than usual from the advice that experts give the Ministry when drafting legislation.

Animal Health and Vets
The minister has not yet been able to reach an agreement with the KNMvD about whether animal health is at stake. The minister has promised to adjust the feed measure if this turns out to be the case. Whether she will do this will become clear when she returns from vacation in mid-August and has to inform the House of Representatives.

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.