The Information was presented by Zeljko Radosevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection.

In the ensuing discussion the Committee members had questions about the administrative proceedings/trials against the Ministry, execution of the budget in the third quarter of 2016, water management projects and rehabilitation of hydro-technical plants, effects of animal vaccination, IPARD and the Directorate for Agrarian Payments. The Committee members also wondered whether the 2017 agriculture budget will be at least 5% of the general budget, whether the realisation of the budget could be increased over 30%, about keeping the milk levies as stimulation measures, and the Ministry’s future strategy as regards small agricultural households. They also had suggestions how to improve the information the Ministry submits to the Committee, and appealed to secure adequate funds in next year’s budget for anti-hail protection and focus more attention to the south-east of Serbia. The Committee members also had questions about the use of priority rights for the lease of agricultural land, criticised the registry of livestock kept by the Veterinary Directorate calling that it be kept up-to-date, spoke about supressing livestock dermatitis on the territory of Serbia, blue tongue disease and accountability for the ineffective vaccination. They also commended the Ministry for the introduction of the Serbian quality brand and asked about the origin of the raw materials used in some products, suggesting that it be regulated, and also suggested using a Serbian declaration on the products, written in the Serbian language using the Cyrillic script.

Following the discussion, the Committee members accepted, by majority vote, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Activity Information relating to agriculture, for the period 1 July – 30 September 2016, and adopted three conclusions.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Marijan Risticevic.

The sitting was attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Radovan Jancic, Dr Zarko Bogatinovic, Zvonimir Djokic, Velimir Stanojevic, Arpad Fremond, Goran Jesic, Nenad Bozic, Veroljub Matic, Milija Miletic, Danijela Stojadinovic, Prof. Dr Miladin Sevarlic and Radoslav Cokic.