News

On 12/05/2021, the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs presented a new Animal Welfare Action Plan, the new rules should apply at both national and international levels. The new action plan builds on existing world standards, recognizes animals as sentient beings by law, and will be a commitment to a range of measures for livestock, wildlife, and pets. The plan includes, for example, a ban on the export of live animals for fattening and slaughter, including a commitment to review the use of cages for laying hens, farrowing cages for pigs or microchips for cats.
More information is available here.

On 04/05/2021, the European Commission adopted rules to extend to 2021 flexibilities for carrying out checks required for CAP support. More flexible rules were adopted on 16 April 2020, due until the end of 2020. The more flexible rules originally adopted on 16/04/2020 were to apply until the end of 2020, however, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Commission has decided to extend the flexibility of controls in 2021 (retroactively from the beginning of 2021).
More information is available here.

The United Nations (UN) has called for the transfer of potentially harmful environmental subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy to measures to promote climate and biodiversity. At the same time, the UN calls for a review and adjustment of subsidies paid to agriculture, fisheries, and other industries. According to the UN, several subsidies lead to overuse of fertilizers, deforestation, the expansion of agricultural land boundaries, and the strengthening of animal production.
More information is available here.

The European Commission should present its opinion on 02/06/2021 on the call for the end-of-cage civic initiative in the EU (according to the civic initiative, the ban should apply to laying hens, rabbits, geese, ducks, calves, and sows). Indeed, according to unofficial information, the European Commission could be ready to present a legislative proposal to ban cage farming in the EU. Information on the introduction of a transitional period and its possible duration is not yet available, but the Commission could be inspired by the Austrian approach and introduce a transitional period of ten to thirteen years. According to unofficial information, the team of the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Franz Timmermans, and the Commissioner for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, are currently working on the preparation of the European Commission's opinion.
More information is available here.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued an opinion last week on titanium dioxide (E 171), a long-discussed food additive used in food bleaching. According to the EFSA opinion, titanium dioxide can no longer be considered as a safe food additive. The European Commission requested the opinion as early as March 2020. According to EFSA's conclusions, titanium dioxide can no longer be considered a safe food additive as its possible genotoxicity cannot be ruled out.
More information is available here.