The Milk Industry does not believe that moratorium on whey solves the problem of the sector

Ecuadornews:

The Center for the Milk Industries considers that short-term measures are not going to solve the structural problem of the dairy sector. This is stated in a statement released following the Ministerial Agreement that establishes the prohibition to market the whey in the country for six months.

For the Milk Industries the moratorium will not achieve an increase in milk consumption, which in 2018 fell by 6.6%. The union mentions that the lack of competitiveness evidenced distortions in the price structure for livestock and industry. In addition, there are surplus raw milk production of 100 000 liters per day, which the local market (formal industries) does not have the technical or commercial capacity to absorb.

That is why the proposal is to promote the export of dairy products and it is necessary to build systemic competitiveness throughout the chain.

The Ministerial Agreement signed on February 25, 2019 includes a temporary agreement that prohibits the commercialization of liquid milk whey, from plants that generate it and that have a Good Manufacturing Practices certificate to third parties, for the production of dairy products. Whey is obtained from the production of cheeses. Rodrigo Gallegos, executive director of Milk Industries, told this newspaper that the levels of milk consumption will not be recovered by establishing a moratorium on the marketing of whey. “It is an isolated measure and it is not enough to recover that fall.” He recalled that the industry is only using 10% of the 800,000 liters / day of whey that is formally produced in Ecuador. But there are no figures on how much informal production is.

That is why he considers that the measure is not discriminating between formality and informality. “The measure is not solving informality, but rather it will increase it and the small producer and the consumer will be affected.”

According to Gallegos, the production of milk drinks that have a serum component went to the most disadvantaged sectors, especially the Coast. But with the measure, these consumers will suspend consumption and would bring a complex situation for the entire chain. The Milk Industries that represents eight of the most important dairies in the country, which collect 900,000 liters of milk per day that generate small, medium and large producers.

The approach of the guild is to work on the solution of problems such as competitiveness that responds to a rigid price structure and that is distorted. According to the communiqué of the Milk Industries, the union makes available to the authority all its contingent to work together under technical criteria, maintaining its commitment to continue working on integrating and developing the entire dairy chain through programs to promote livestock activity in order to contribute to their well-being He also recalled the Milk Industries presented the technical proposals to the Milk Board, which is composed of government authorities and other representatives of the chain. (I)

Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/industria-lactea-suero-leche-economia.html