The Committee members accepted the proposal of Committee Chairman Marijan Risticevic to have a joint debate on both items on the agenda.

At the beginning of the proceedings, Prof. Dr Dragan Glamocic, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, spoke about the state of fruit growing and agriculture in general. He emphasised that the Ministry would try to be at the service of the Committee, that it would answer all questions and that criticism was welcome, adding that he hoped for a constructive dialogue with the members of the Committee, so that the Ministry would be able to implement what the Committee brings forth. He used this opportunity to announce that a public call for tenders would be published tomorrow for the procurement of tractors worth a total of 500 million RSD, as well as a call for tenders for the construction of facilities. Speaking of the state of fruit growing, the Minister emphasised that we cannot influence the weather conditions, but what we can influence is adequate hail protection, and those producers who did not protect themselves adequately will suffer greater damage, the Minister said, adding that all crops were damaged, apricots the most. The Minister also added that the Ministry always has public calls for insurance, but only those producers located in risk areas use them, while others, due to high insurance prices, decide to do so less often. The Ministry also has calls for standard support from climate risks and invited the members of the Committee to share information with the Ministry if they have any knowledge about new protection systems, so that all three systems can be included in the regulations and subsidised. Minister Glamocic then focused on the situation in the Directorate for Agricultural Payments and the Veterinary Directorate. What is worrying in the Directorate for Agricultural Payments is eAgrar, that is, the further development of the system so that it can fully come to life. Also, only 14% of the subsidy budget has been realised, it must be sped up and increased, the administrative procedures simplified as much as possible, and something should be done about the insufficient use of IPARD funds. Speaking of the Veterinary Directorate, food safety and quality come first, and work is being done to amend the regulations so that consumers would know what they are buying. Finally, the Minister stressed that in this mandate he will work on three short-term goals, which he will realize in the first 100 days, as well as six strategic goals. The short-term goals concern continuous support for the procurement of breeding animals, systematic control of aflatoxin levels and clear food labelling, and the strategic goals concern the food sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia, modern, digital agriculture, intensive farming and the demarcation between IPARD funds and national programs.

In the discussion that followed, the Committee members exchanged opinions with Minister Glamocic on the introduction of eAgrar in households in mountainous areas, the state of livestock farming in Serbia, food safety, human and animal health, meat imports into Serbia from abroad, setting up a laboratory for honey testing, i.e. determining whether honey is real or not, the problem of irrigation, the development of poultry farming, the damage caused by frost to fruit production this year and the measures that the Ministry will implement regarding it, high food prices in general, as well as producer prices, examples of good practice in the introduction of eAgrar, a campaign for young people to engage in agriculture, the insufficient use of IPARD funds, resolving the issue of the status of agricultural holdings, educating agricultural producers on eAgrar, the problem of forestation and the participation of local governments in it, increasing income per unit of area, granting incentives for vegetable growing and livestock farming, etc. After the discussion, the Committee members dopted, by a majority vote, relevant conclusions.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Marijan Risticevic, and attended by the following Subcommittee members and deputy members: Radoslav Milojicic, Stanislava Janosevic, Slobodan Ilic, Dragan Jovanovic, Milija Miletic, Jozsef Tobias, Dijana Radovic, Miroslav Aleksic, Ivana Stamatovic, Dejan Bulatovic and Dusan Nikezic.