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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) could broaden its focus by extending its powers to fully support the ambitions of the European Green Deal to protect and improve the environment. EFSA Director Bernhard Url said that EFSA should play a greater role in the preparation and implementation of the Farm to Fork Strategy, saying that risk assessment alone could only be one of EFSA's activities. Using the example of glyphosate, Url illustrated what an enhanced role for EFSA could look like - there is currently no comprehensive assessment of the impact of a possible ban on glyphosate on the agri-food sector, impact on biodiversity, drinking water quality, farmers' incomes, food production costs. Strengthening EFSA's role would thus allow a broader study of the impact of sustainable policies in the real world and provide European politicians with a more comprehensive analysis of forthcoming policies.

The European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) voted on 28/10/2020 on an objection to the European Commission's proposal to restrict the use of lead ammunition near wetlands. Many Member States, except for Ireland, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia, already regulate the use of lead ammunition near wetlands, but the Commission has been working to harmonize the rules since 2015. The Commission's aim is to focus on the widespread use of lead ammunition, and the Commission is still working on proposals for widespread regulation. The proposal for restrictions around wetlands was developed as a matter of priority, considering the sensitivity of the given ecosystems. In the proposal, the European Commission allows states where wetlands cover at least a fifth of the state's area a longer transition period for the transition to lead-free ammunition (three years instead of two). The Commission has also proposed reducing the area around wetlands where lead-core ammunition should not be used from 300 meters to 100 meters. However, MEPs Alexander Bernhuber (EPP, AT), Ondřej Knotek (Renew, CZ), and Andrey Slabakov (ECR, BG) objected to the Commission's proposal. MEPs called for the Commission's proposal to be rejected and for a new one to be tabled. According to MEPs, the Commission's proposal goes beyond what is necessary and proportionate to address the environmental risks arising from the use of lead ammunition in or around wetlands and therefore does not respect the principle of proportionality. However, the COMENVI Committee rejected the objection by a vote of 33 in favour and 42 against. However, the objection may be re-tabled directly to the plenary of the European Parliament.
More information is available here and here (page 8).

Last week, the EURACTIV media network organized a webinar focused on livestock production and Farm to Fork Strategy, specifically on the role of the poultry sector. During the webinar, AVEC's poultry producers' representatives called on the European Commission to consider a Europe-wide food origin labelling scheme to help support the European poultry sector. AVEC representatives supported the introduction of the "EU" and "non-EU" labels, in the case of non-European production, the labels request information on a specific country of origin.
More information is available here.

Director of AHOLD Delhaize said that the price of food is no longer the only factor in the choice and purchase of food by consumers. The quality of food and its nutritional composition, including salt or sugar content, is playing an increasingly important role. Therefore, the Belgian Delhaize has introduced a NutriScore nutrition system for its private food labels. According to the director of AHOLD, this system helps to inform consumers about the improvement of food production standards, helps to support reformulation and food, as well as consumers' awareness of the successes achieved in reformulation.

On 27/10/2020, the German Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) confirmed African swine fever (ASF) in three other feral pigs in Brandenburg. The number of cases thus increased to 94. As of 28/10/2020, however, the number of ASF cases increased again, to 103. A total of 83 ASF cases were confirmed in the Oder-Spree district. The construction of fences on the border with Poland to prevent the further spread of the disease had to be suspended due to the flooding of areas during the autumn floods on the river Oder.
More information is available here and here.