The ICE holds the ordinary assembly meeting of February 2017
The Ordinary Assembly Meeting of İzmir Commodity Exchange (ICE), which hosted Mr. İsmail Yücel, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Customs and Trade; Mr. Adnan Yankın, General Director of Domestic Trade; Mr. Hakan Çalış, Department Head of Domestic Trade; Mr. Şahin Ersu, Provincial Director of Trade; Mr. Ahmet Güldal, Provincial Director of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, was held on Tuesday, 28 February 2017.
Stating in his speech that the ICE had achieved many successes in parallel with the title it holds as the first commodity exchange of Türkiye and the pioneer of the commodity exchanging sector, Mr. İsmail Yücel, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Customs and Trade, said "İzmir Commodity Exchange established the first licensed warehouse for cotton, ELİDAŞ, in İzmir as part of its leading role in the industry together with its partners. Electronic Product Certificate Platform was also opened for the first time in İzmir."
Having expressed that there were 18 licensed warehouses that acquired their operation licenses as of that day and 42 more that had been granted the license of establishment, Mr. İsmail Yücel noted that there had been improvements in the capacity of the licensed warehouse and the volume of electronic product certificates. He also added that licensed warehousing activities would begin for cotton, hazelnut, raisins and particularly for cereals. Emphasizing that many incentives had been granted to develop the licensed warehousing sector, Mr. Yücel announced the good news that the new incentives were also before the Council of Ministers awaiting signature.
Presiding over the session, the ICE President Mr. Barış Kocagöz articulated that producing much was very important in agriculture, but only producing would not suffice anymore. He also added "Utilizing the produce and marketing it by creating added value is now much more important. For this reason, we should pay much attention to contemporary marketing projects. The licensed warehousing system that has been launched recently for this purpose will hold a very important place in our future, albeit developing newly. As İzmir Commodity Exchange, we are honestly proud that we have pioneered the establishment of such a fruitful system, and we are very hopeful about its development."
The ICE chairperson, on the other hand, said the following:
"There are three important issues related to agricultural product prices: The product prices must be above the unit costs and at a level that will ensure a quality life for the producers; they must be at a level that will enable all consumer groups to reach food, and they must be at a level that will not adversely affect the competitiveness of our food industry in order for the exports to increase. It is really hard to fix an agricultural price level that everyone will enjoy. All countries, therefore, either support or protect the agricultural sector within their means. Our Minister of Economy Mr. Nihat Zeybekçi has made important statements during his visit to our Exchange recently. His statements particularly about the renewal of the Customs Union agreement and the inclusion of the agricultural sector in the scope of the agreement interest everyone, particularly the producers, consumers and industrialists. Inclusion of the agricultural sector into the scope of the Customs Union agreement will bring about very important consequences. Different product groups will be affected differently from this inclusion. In general, it is possible to say at first glance that the fruit and vegetable sectors will be positively affected by this situation while the animal husbandry will be affected negatively. Integrating the agricultural sector into the Customs Union without being part of the EU Common Agricultural Policy will no doubt place a significant budgetary burden. It is really important that Mr. Minister says that the support to be needed by the industry will be provided. The results of a possible integration of the agricultural sector with the Customs Union are tried to be explained with the current developments occurring in the industrial sector and it is stated that such an integration will contribute positively to the sector's competitiveness in the long run. Although I agree with this view, I would like to point out that agriculture cannot be appraised as the industry sector because of its own nature, and that its special conditions should be taken heed of."
01.03.2017
