On 28th of November, the official delegation of Harghita County Council, among them Mr. Csaba Borboly, county council president and member of the Committee of the Regions, met with Mr. Dacian Cioloș, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission. During the meeting, the county council president presented the Sekler Product programme of Harghita County Council, providing an ample picture about the collaboration of the local community through which more hundred farmers have bought and restarted the milk processing factory in Cristuru Secuiesc. As Mr. Csaba Borboly pointed out, for Harghita County Council a particular attention falls on developing the county’s agriculture and rural areas, the main principles and measures in this regard being determined in county level strategies.
Among others, the Sekler Product programme’s goal is to produce traditional, natural and local products, without using any additives, and to establish the „Nagy-Küküllő” Agricultural Cooperative, which has launched the milk processing factory in Cristuru Secuiesc, providing hereby secure income for approximately 600 families. Accordingly, the primary aim is to assure development possibilities for local producers both in agriculture and food-industry. The county council president called the attention for the measures and successful results reached so far within the framework of this programme and similar initiatives. He said that the abovementioned cooperative is struggling with problems related to selling the products, which are tried to be solved by its members. For this very reason, the president asked for development support for the benefit of the fruitful operation of the present initiation.
Moreover, Mr. Csaba Borboly also emphasized that ‘the foundation of the „Nagy-Küküllő” Agricultural Cooperative and together with the milk processing factory in Cristuru Secuiesc is considered as a unique initiation in Romania, and accordingly should be supported as an important project and as a good practice based on the efficient collaboration of small producers and farmers on local level.’
Henceforth, the county council president presented in detail the Sekler Product programme, through which local and traditional products are promoted on local and international level, the consumers having by this means the possibility to buy these in shops and on the monthly and seasonal fairs of local and traditional products, organized by Harghita County Council. The products are promoted together with the county tourist supply and at the moment over 50 local producers with approximately 600 products received the legal use of the Sekler Product trademark. In this matter Harghita County Council has an intermediary role, because it assures the information flow between the producers and the local and foreign commercial networks. Another important result of the programme is that on 25th November in Miercurea Ciuc the first Sekler shop of local and traditional products was opened, which is planned to be extended into a shop network in order to encourage the healthy and conscious nutrition and consumption.
Mr. Dacian Cioloş shared his opinion that these exemplary initiatives based on local farmers’ collaboration are a positive and good things on international level, mentioning also that within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union, expectedly there will be available supporting and financing opportunities for such initiatives. He firmly believes that in agriculture the real value is the added value which is obtained from processing and selling. Therefore, the Commissioner urges that the products should not leave the area of production as unprocessed, because he considers that the income resulting from processed products should be realized on local level and not elsewhere. Accordingly, he claimed that the presented agricultural cooperative and milk processing factory in Cristuru Secuiesc, are outstanding initiations, as it is the Sekler Product programme, for the reason why he will pay attention to these in the future and thereupon plans to visit Harghita County next year.
Miercurea Ciuc, 28th of November 2013
Leave a Reply