News

On 13/01/2021, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published the first risk assessment of dried yellow mealworms (whole and ground) as novel foods, which were identified as safe for human consumption. The European Commission will therefore prepare a proposal for Member States to allow and market the product by mid-2021.
More information is available here and here.

The European Commission has published a study evaluating the impact of agricultural product promotion programs on the internal and foreign markets (here). Funding for product promotion has not been shown to undermine the achievement of environmental objectives. On the contrary, EU agri-food promotion policy is conducive to gaining access to new foreign markets, which helps to ensure stable jobs in EU rural areas.
More information is available here.

In a statement dated 08/01/2021, French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie confirmed that the only possible step to stop the spread of the highly pathogenic bird flu virus in France would probably be to kill hundreds of thousands more ducks. To protect the lucrative duck and goose and duck liver industry, it is necessary to act as quickly as possible. It is essential to prevent the virus from spreading from the Landes area, where 119 out of 124 sites have been affected, to farms in the Béarn area and in Gers. In connection with the spread of the virus in France, trade supplies to China were interrupted.
More information is available here.

The British government issued a decision on 08/01/2021 granting an emergency permit for the use of neonicotinoids for the treatment of sugar beet seed for 2021. Although the United Kingdom supported a ban on the substance within the EU in 2018 because of its effects on pollinators, it has now stated that the reason for granting an exemption is the potential risk of beetroot infestation by viral jaundice spread by infected aphids. Last year, 10 EU member states granted similar exemptions.
More information is available here.

France continues to reject the ratification of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement - in particular, it considers insufficient and unsatisfactory points concerning deforestation, respect for the Paris Agreement, and EU food standards. There is a possibility that France could refuse ratification even after the negotiation of additional articles aimed at strengthening climate protection and preventing deforestation. The United States has also spoken out against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, fearing that the European market will be filled with South American products, which would significantly limit the opportunities and profits of American producers.
More information is available here.