Van Dam: Termination of POR scheme is final

In the letter, which State Secretary Martijn van Dam sent to the House of Representatives on Friday evening, February 3, in addition to information about the phosphate rights system, it also stated that the POR scheme for poultry and pig farmers will be abolished. Today – 9 February – Van Dam informed the room that this decision is still final. However, there is still a motion to prevent this. 

Martijn van Dam gives participants in the POR scheme (Regulation exemption from production rights of the Fertilizers Act) until 1 January 2018 the time to buy or rent additional animal rights. If that is not the case, the animal number must be reduced. However, animal rights are hardly available, which means that the abolition of the scheme will have a very price-increasing effect, the sector believes.

On Thursday morning, Van Dam will explain his controversial decision in the room. The State Secretary does not see room for an extension. By announcing it now, he wants to give farmers the time to provide a solution for their business. VVD and CDA ask to delete the decision in a motion, which will be voted on on Tuesday, but Van Dam does not consider this possible. “The scheme is just coming to an end. Deletion is therefore not possible.' According to him, the scheme does not go down well with the European Commission. He calls the release date reasonable.

Livestock farmers and advocates are furious after Van Dam's decision was announced. The scheme was established in 2015. Companies that completely process their manure surplus could participate in the scheme, receiving an exemption for 50 percent of the animal rights needed for expansion. The scheme has been used intensively. This concerns a total of 1,2 million poultry rights and more than 121.500 pig rights. Good for 1,6 million kilos of phosphate.

In the meantime, poultry and pig organizations were considering next steps, should Van Dam go ahead with his plan. Especially because the decision came like a bolt from the blue. The State Secretary introduced the scheme in 2015. At that time, the phosphate reduction was still well below the ceiling. That is not the case now, which means that the scheme must disappear, Van Dam firmly believes.

© 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.