Motion regarding the “abolition of the AMA marketing property tax” submitted to the National Council
Vienna (OTS) – “The report on the activities of AMA-Marketing GesmbH is the only item on the agenda for agriculture that made it into today’s National Council session. Otherwise, without the FPÖ, no agricultural topic would be on the agenda at all, because if the ÖVP had its way, everything would be fine in the agricultural sector,” said FPÖ agricultural spokesman NAbg today. Peter Schmiedlechner in his contribution to the debate.
“The AMA is, so to speak, a sheltered workshop for ÖVP party members that gets an insane amount of money from the farmers. In return, however, trade is supported above all, the farmers are now allowed to pay even more than before – and this despite the massive price increases. In addition, AMA-Marketing can charge an extra five euros per hectare! If we’re being honest, this is a new property tax that brings in about nine million euros a year for AMA marketing,” explained Schmiedlechner.
“Our farmers are allowed to pay well, but what does AMA Marketing do with this money? For example, an online shop was set up – a department store Austria 2.0. But anyone expecting an online delicatessen with local products is totally wrong. Instead, “mini cheese dairies” are offered for 699 euros and “cheese serving trolleys”, optionally available in the versions “classic” for 1,749 euros or “refiner” for 2,189 euros. What this is supposed to bring to the forced contributors remains completely unclear,” criticized the FPÖ agricultural spokesman.
“But we will make sure that the debate about the ‘wild switching and reigning’ with the AMA contributions will continue to be discussed publicly. How the farmers’ money is handled here is simply a tangible scandal. Only ten percent of the budget is spent on the necessary quality controls, the rest is spent on meaningless marketing measures – such as online trading – and the rest seeps away somewhere in the endless expanses of bureaucracy,” says Schmiedlechner.
“I demand that 90 percent of the money that is not currently being used for the controls is critically examined. You have to use the money you have better. It should bring more advantages for the farmers and not only for the trade. The advertisements in the ÖVP-Bauernzeitung are also ridiculous and incomprehensible. So I ask myself, does the AMA seal of approval have such a bad reputation that it has to be advertised to the farmers, who finance it with their own contributions anyway?” says Schmiedlechner.
“The AMA seal of approval has recently come under massive criticism. The fact is that the farmers are controlled to a large extent, but on the other hand the licensees seem to have no control. In addition, retailers often push campaigns with the AMA seal of approval products. Quality management and quality controls are extremely important, especially for a brand like the AMA seal of approval. Once trust is destroyed, it is difficult to restore it. After all, ten percent of the budget is spent on quality controls, but this has apparently failed, or in the past consumers were given the wrong impression of the AMA seal of approval,” emphasized Schmiedlechner, who demanded that the compulsory fees for a marketing agency should not add value for the Farmers belong abolished. In this context, the FPÖ agricultural spokesman also submitted an application regarding the “abolition of the AMA marketing property tax”, in which the black-green government is called upon to “support domestic agriculture by abolishing the hidden property tax to finance the AMA Marketing GesmbH im Amount of around 27 million euros to be relieved. Furthermore, the AMA seal of quality is to be replaced by a genuine indication of origin as a guarantee of domestic quality.”
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