Today's Date:

Last week, Hervé Gaymard, Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Rural Affairs, asked the French dairy board (ONILAIT – Office national interprofessionnel du lait et des produits laitiers) and the relevant departmental agricultural and forestry directorates to report on the consequences in France of the bankruptcy of the Italian Parmalat group.

The Minister has written to Giovanni Alemanno, the Italian Agriculture and Forestry Minister, asking him to enable French producers also to benefit from the various measures the Italian government has put, and will put in place to protect the milk producers.

In addition, French dairy companies affected by this crisis will be able to benefit from already existing State assistance measures.

The "partial unemployment mechanism" will be triggered in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour and Solidarity so that employees whose working hours have been reduced may receive a specific benefit partially compensating for the reduction in their pay.

The "wage guarantee insurance" will come into play in cases where a business files for bankruptcy or is put into receivership.

When the viability of French farms which supplied the Parmalat group is at risk, the farmers concerned will be able to benefit from the measures to help farmers in difficulty ("agridiff – agriculteurs en difficulté") under which the State takes care of such farmers' social security contributions and loan interest payments.

Finally, farmers forced to stop farming will be eligible for the RMI if their income falls below the requisite level./.