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Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, is very active on Twitter, where he reports in Polish and English on the ongoing CAP reform. However, he often comes into conflict with Polish farmers and representatives of Polish agricultural organizations. Farmers specially criticize the excessive administrative burden of the CAP, the EU's trade agreement with Mercosur, the high pesticide reduction targets, or the support expressed only for the farm family model. According to Polish farmers, the Commissioner is trying to support outdated agricultural models, the so-called retrospective revolution of European agriculture. According to representatives of Polish farmers, the reduction of pesticides, as required by the European Green Deal, will lead to a decline in European agricultural production, which will allow enhanced market access to competitors from Ukraine and Mercosur. Polish farmers are also criticizing the excessive pressure to support organic farming. According to the discussants, the European Union will lose its position as a net exporter in line with its goals, on the contrary, it will have to strengthen imports of agri-food commodities.

The European institutions have confirmed further dates for the trilogues on CAP reform. Further negotiations on the Strategic Plans will take place on 16/04/2021 and 30/04/2021. The trilogue on Horizontal Issues will take place on 23/04/2021, and on the Common Market Organization on 21/04/2021. Another super trilogue, during which all three parts of the CAP reform - the Strategic Plans, Horizontal Issues, and the Common Market Organization - will be discussed, could then take place in mid-May 2021, with a view to reaching an agreement on the CAP by the end of May 2021.

On 30/03/2021, the Commission launched feedback on statistics on pesticides – updated list of active substances. The consultation is open until 27/04/2021, available here.

On 31/03/2021, the Commission launched feedback on a review of promotion policy inside and outside the EU for agricultural and food products. The initiative is part of the Farm to Fork strategy and aims to strengthen the contribution of promotion policy to sustainable production and consumption through the transition to a plant-based diet (more information here). The consultation is open until 23/06/2021, available here.

The EU regulation of 24/04/2019, which sets a limit for the content of trans-fatty acids in foodstuffs at 2 g per 100 g of fat, entered into force on 01/04/2021. From that date, foods more than this limit may not be placed on the EU market in the case of trans-fatty acids other than those naturally occurring in animal fats. The regulation for EU Member States is harmonized in line with the WHO call for the removal of industrial trans-fatty acids from the global food chain by 2023.
More information is available here, here, and here.

The new regulation on transparency in food production entered into force on 27/03/2021 and serves to enhance the transparency of risk assessments of pesticides, genetically modified foods, additives, and flavourings. All applications for approval of new chemicals used in agriculture and food will now be published in the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) online database.
More information is available here.