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On 23/04/2024, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published the European Union Report on Pesticide Residues in Food 2022. 110,829 food samples were taken for the survey, of which 96.3% met the legal maximum residue limits for pesticides. Although 3.7% of the food exceeded this limit, only 2.2% was found to be non-compliant after accounting for measurement deviations. For a subset of the EU coordinated multiannual control programme (repeated every 3 years), 11,727 samples of apples, strawberries, peaches, red and white wine, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, spinach, oats, barley, cow's milk and pork fat were analysed. Of this subgroup, 51.4% of the products did not have quantifiable levels of pesticide residues measured, a further 47% contained residues within the limits and the remaining 1.6% of foods exceeded the limits.
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On 08/04/2024, the European institutions (Parliament, Council and Commission) discussed the issue of trade liberalisation measures with Ukraine in trialogue. The European institutions agreed to support the Belgian compromise - thus extending the temporary suspension of tariffs and quotas for Ukraine until June 2025, strengthening safeguards to protect EU farmers and introducing an emergency brake for sensitive commodities with a longer reference period. The most sensitive commodities included poultry, sugar, eggs, oats, groats, maize and honey after the trilogue. The institutions did not support the inclusion of wheat among the most sensitive commodities. Negotiators agreed to extend the reference period used as the basis for triggering the automatic emergency brake on imports of the most sensitive commodities, meaning that if imports of these products exceed the average import volumes recorded in the second half of 2021 and throughout 2022 and 2023, tariffs on these commodities will be reimposed. The time limit for triggering this measure has been reduced from 21 days to 14 days. The European Commission is committed to intensify its monitoring of imports of grain, in particular wheat, and to use the tools at its disposal in the event of market disturbances. The co-legislators also endorsed the Commission's commitment to discuss with Ukraine the permanent liberalisation of customs duties in the framework of the review process of Ukraine's Association Agreement with the EU, once the legislative procedure on temporary liberalisation has been completed. This agreement was approved by the European Parliament during its plenary session on 23/04/2024 by 428 votes to 131 with 44 abstentions. The agreement now needs to be formally approved by the EU Council.
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On 15/03/2024, the European Commission presented a proposal to revise certain provisions of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with the aim, according to the European Commission, of achieving simplification while maintaining a strong, sustainable and competitive policy for agriculture and food in the EU. The proposals on cross-compliance and CAP strategic plans aim to reduce the burden of controls on EU farmers and give them more flexibility to comply with certain environmental conditions. The European Commission is proposing a targeted review of certain cross-compliances in the CAP Strategic Plans Regulation. The proposal must now be approved by the Council of the European Union before the new rules can enter into force by June 2024. The Belgian Presidency has already announced that if the Parliament approves the proposal as agreed by the Member States in the Special Committee on Agriculture (minor linguistic changes, see above), the Council will adopt the same text of the rules. Once approved by the Council, the new rules will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force immediately. Farmers will be able to apply the revised environmental rules to their applications for financial support as early as 2024.
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Hungarian Minister of Agriculture István Nagy announced on 11/04/2024 that Hungary will introduce new restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine. Nagy's statement came in response to progress in European-level negotiations to extend trade liberalisation with Ukraine until June 2025. Hungary already bans imports of 24 Ukrainian agricultural products. Agricultural associations from Slovakia and Ukraine plan to meet in May in an attempt to resolve Slovakia's unilateral restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. Romania has completed Europe's largest terminal for transhipment of agricultural products at its border with Ukraine. The new complex will allow the transport of 240,000 tonnes of grain and agricultural products per month.
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In a joint letter, forty health insurers from France, Belgium and Poland have called on the European Commission not to give up on its goal of halving the use of synthetic pesticides by the end of the decade, and to reach a situation where no pesticides are used in agriculture at all by the end of 2050. The joint call was presented by the insurance companies at last week's European Parliament. France has also long been trying to reduce pesticide use, and last week launched a call for applications for research projects aimed specifically at reducing pesticide use or replacing it altogether. Under the national "Plan to better anticipate the possible withdrawal of active substances from the European market and to develop alternative plant protection products", France is allocating almost €150 million to these initiatives.
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