Europe to Buy 30,000 Tons of Surplus Butter

BRUSSELS — Two years after it was supposed to have gone away for good, Europe’s “butter mountain” is back.

Faced with a drastic drop in the price of dairy goods, the European Union will buy 30,000 tons of unsold butter — reviving one of the abiding symbols of Europe’s generous farm subsidy system.

While the butter sits in cold storage, more than three times that amount in skimmed milk powder will accumulate in warehouses on the European Union’s expense.

The collapse in the price of dairy products has also prompted officials to announce that they will resume subsidies for the export of a range of goods. Officials argue that, by historical standards, the purchase is insignificant. In 1986, the European Union bought 1.23 million tons of butter.

The latest figures show that 717,810 tons of cereals were piling up, along with 41,422 tons of sugar and 2.3 million hectoliters of wine, according to the European Commission.

Carlos Galian, agriculture expert for Oxfam International, said the resumption of export subsidies worried him.

“Once you start using export subsidies,” Mr. Galian said, “the E.U. opens the door to pressure from other groups to press for them. In terms of global trade negotiations, it does not give a good signal to developing countries.”