The European Commission has announced several measures to help the agri-food sector as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
It is to create private storage aid for dairy products - such as skimmed milk powder, butter and cheese - as well as beef, sheep and goat meat products.
The scheme will allow products to be temporarily withdrawn from the market for a minimum of two months, and a maximum of six months.
The commission says this measure will lead to "a decrease of available supply on the market and re-balance the market on the long-term."
The plan will also see flexibility for fruit, vegetables, wine, olive oil and other markets.
The commission says: "This will allow the reorientation of funding priorities towards crisis management measures for all the sectors."
Certain sectors will also be exempt from certain EU competition rules for the duration.
These include the milk, flowers and potatoes sectors.
An exceptional derogation under Article 222 of the Common Markets Organisation Regulation allows operators to adopt self-organisation market measures.
The commission explains: "These sectors will be allowed to collectively take measures to stabilise the market.
"For example, the milk sector will be allowed to collectively plan milk production and the flower and potatoes sector will be allowed to withdraw products from the market.
"Storage by private operators will also be allowed."
Any such agreements and decisions will only be valid for a maximum period of six months.
While consumer price movements will also be monitored, to avoid adverse effects.
The commission says it aims to have these measures adopted by the end of April.
Member states will first be consulted and vote on the measures - which, the commission says, are therefore subject to change.
Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski says: "The consequences of the coronavirus crisis are increasingly being felt in the agri-food sector and this is why we have decided to take swift action, in addition to the measures already taken since the outbreak of the crisis.
"The measures proposed are, in the present state of market developments, intended to send a signal aimed at stabilising markets and are considered to be the most appropriate for providing stability to future prices and production and thus stable food supplies and food security.
"Today we are announcing a new and exceptional package of measures to support the most affected agri-food sectors by addressing already observed disturbances as well as future risks".
