PRICE-PRESS: Erna Solberg wants to release foreign products, by lowering customs protection somewhat, where possible. Photo: Frode Hansen / VG
LIER (VG) Conservative leader Erna Solberg believes that food prices have risen too much, too quickly. She believes it is possible to take political measures to push prices down. She gets a brutal answer.
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Conservative leader Erna Solberg believes that food prices have risen too much, too quickly. She believes it is possible to take political measures to push prices down. She points to foreign customs goods which she believes have higher customs duties than necessary to maintain Norwegian agricultural production. – Something that prevents other foreign suppliers from entering the Norwegian grocery market. Agriculture and Food Minister, Geir Pollestad (Sp), challenges Solberg and asks her point to five products. Show more
– There are a number of foreign customs goods, which the Competition Authority has pointed out have higher duty rates than what is needed, in order to maintain Norwegian agricultural production in the same area. It prevents other suppliers, who come from outside, from entering the Norwegian grocery market. They should be allowed to deliver goods to Norway. We don’t need to have tariffs that are higher than they have to be, she says.
Here are the four points the Conservative Party will promote:
Info
Make adjustments to import protection, because the customs rates are in some cases higher than what is necessary to protect Norwegian agriculture, in line with the Norwegian Competition Authority’s recommendations. Review customs tariffs with a view to increased flexibility for prepared foodstuffs. More consumer power through better labeling of own brands. Retain the measures to promote competition in the dairy sector which the government has decided to weaken. Show more– Challenging the giants
On Tuesday, she visited Leiv Vidar Pølsemakeri in Hønefoss and grocery supplier Oda in Lier.
– Today, they are relatively small, but challenge the giants. We need them and we need more people who can participate in the competition. We must also look at the competition in the links before the grocery chains, particularly within meat, milk and cheese products.
– That could weaken the position of Norwegian farmers?
– We believe it is possible to make changes to customs protection that do not weaken the position of Norwegian farmers, but we can reduce in some areas where there is an overcharge for customs, which does not make it relevant for new players to consider supplying to the Norwegian market .
WANT MORE COMPETITION: Solberg visited Oda’s production site in Lier on Tuesday, where bread flew past her back. Photo: Frode Hansen / VG
– Important
She says that this applies, among other things, to customs duties for processed products, with, for example, a slightly lower meat content. It is possible to contribute to more increased competition. Food prices have risen sharply and we believe they can be pushed down.
– The changes you are proposing will probably not ensure the most important thing to bring about increased competition: One more major player in the grocery market?
– Bringing in more players who supply groceries that people often buy is important. Many of the basic products for people are, among other things, milk products. Bringing in challengers is important. It is therefore very wrong to weaken competition measures within the dairy sector, as the government has done.
– How did they do it?
– They have submitted for consultation proposals for changes, among other things, in the shipping price and changing the cap on production, for a small mark-up. There will be less competition in a market that already has little competition, including in milk.
– You also have a point about better labeling of your own brands. Why is it important?
– It should say that it is a brand that, for example, Rema 1000 produces. If you want to help stimulate competition by buying from smaller manufacturers, then you should be able to easily see whether it is a Rema product or from a local manufacturer.
– She adds:
MILK IN FOCUS: Milk products are one of the areas Solberg believes it is possible to create more competition in. She gets a brutal answer. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / VG
– I often go around looking for local food producers and it is possible to be tricked into thinking it is from a local producer, when it is an own brand from a grocery chain.
– I can’t see in your list of measures that any of them will help to push prices down a lot, for example at Orkla, where one of the Conservative Party’s biggest financial supporters, Stein Erik Hagen and their family company Canica, is the biggest owner?
– We want more competition in all parts of the value chain. This will result in lower prices, and Orkla will also have to live with that.
Hits back hard
The then Agriculture and Food Minister Sandra Borch (Sp) flatly rejected the Norwegian Competition Authority’s recommendation for customs barrier adjustments, which Solberg is now advocating.
Current Minister of Agriculture and Food, Geir Pollestad (Sp) is challenging Solberg.
– We have challenged the Conservative Party on which products are in question, on which there is a very high duty, on which duty can be reduced, without affecting Norwegian agricultural production.
He says they have removed the customs duty on products that we do not produce in Norway.
ANSWER REQUIRED: On 4 August, Pollestad took over as Agriculture and Food Minister Sandra Borch. He is not gracious in his judgment of Solberg’s proposal. Photo: Gabriel Aas Skålevik / VG
Ask Solberg to name five items
He asks for answers to the following.
– This is a theoretical suggestion from Solberg. I ask her to name five items to which this applies. I don’t think Solberg is capable of that.
He says he defends the policy linked to her claim to “retain the measures to promote competition in the dairy sector which the government has decided to weaken”.
– We have proposed to scale back some of the support that was given, among other things to the Q dairies, because there was no basis for it.
It is about the Q dairies receives subsidies for being a competitor to Tine.
– I want to kick the ball back to Solberg, he says:
– In their state budget proposal, they advocated a significant increase in climate tax on agricultural products, and tax on milk cartons, which amounted to around NOK 500 million, if I remember correctly.
– Are you claiming that Høyre’s policy in this field will actually increase prices, not cut them?
– It will make milk more expensive with Høyre’s plan, yes. We protect goods where there is Norwegian production, such as meat and milk, and we have a number of products that we do not produce in Norway, which can be imported duty-free.
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Published: 06.09.23 at 05:49
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2023-09-06 03:49:07
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