RIGA - Latvia and Estonia were slammed with yet more penalties for excess food stocks prior to EU membership, creating new problems for the countries' agriculture ministries.
Latvian Agriculture Minister Martins Roze said that the European Commission has estimated that Latvia had accumulated an additional 19 excess food products before accession, boosting the state's fine to over 10 million euros.
In Estonia the penalty is twice that, reaching almost 21 million euros, of which only half is seen by the government as justified, the minister added.
Roze would not disclose the exact amount of fines calculated by the commission, saying only that the figure was "less than 20 million euros but more than 10 million euros."
The minister said that pork, poultry and beef have been identified as the biggest excess stocks in Latvia. Other products include cheese, butter, garlic, rice, skimmed milk powder, canned mushrooms and wine, among others.
He said that a more detailed assessment would begin this fall when commission representatives return from their summer holidays. If Latvia fails to negotiate a reduction, the state will be forced to pay for the loss.
"I do not see any other way of getting rid of those stocks," said the minister.
He added that the biggest surplus was found in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic and the smallest in Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus and Latvia.
Estonian Agricultural Minister Ester Tuiksoo announced that the government, which has all but acquiesced with paying penalties for excessive sugar stocks, intends to recoup its losses from the country's businessmen.
"The state is ready to claim that sum back from entrepreneurs," she said this week.
According to the list of excessive foodstuff stocks published by the European Commission on July 5, Estonia faces a penalty worth up to 238 million kroons (15.4 million euros) for several dozen different products on top of the 715 million kroon penalty for excessive sugar stocks.
Tuiksoo said 85 percent of the additional (non-sugar) foodstuffs was related to dairy products. Estonia earlier submitted a report on excessive stocks for butter and condensed milk. While the former is included in the commission's report, the latter was not found.
The commission also identified excess stocks in commodities such as mandarin preserves, grape juice, hops, different kinds of meat, and alcohol.
Latvia was previously accused of accumulating 10,600 tons of excess sugar stocks, but decided against taking financial sanctions and permitted use of the surplus sugar for purposes such as bee-keeping, bio-ethanol production and cattle feed.
The commission is concerned that many new EU member states knowingly kept an excess of stocks intending to sell them at a higher price after EU accession.
