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Claire Bury, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, said last week that European citizens would consume significantly less meat and meat products in ten years' time. Claire Bury is one of the Commission's representatives working to implement new strategies, including the Farm to Fork Strategy. Similarly, the CEO of the Danone food company, Emmanuel Faber, said that the European Union must gradually phase out the consumption of animal proteins, but that they should not be completely banned. According to Faber, it is necessary to support the development of plant-based alternatives.

According to Farm Europe, the European Commission should move away from restrictions on the production of biofuels in the EU to reduce dependence on imports of protein feed. According to Farm Europe, the European Union is only 79% self-sufficient in rapeseed production, 42% in sunflower and only 5% in soybeans. The deficit leads to the import of up to 17 million tons of protein into the EU per year, of which 13 million tons are made up of soybean supplies, mainly from Brazil, Argentina, and the US. At the same time, however, the Commission is restricting support to produce first-generation biofuels, which are also linked to the production of protein feed, which is a by-product of rapeseed processing.

The number of confirmed cases of African swine fever (ASF) in Germany rose to 29/09/2020 to 29. All new cases were confirmed in the already affected area, domestic farms have not yet been affected by the disease. German Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner welcomed plans to build a fence on the Polish border adjacent to the affected area and insists on other necessary measures to stop the spread of the disease. The cost of combating the spread of ASF is reflected in the production costs and price of pork, which is falling on the European market. The Czechia is therefore asking the Commission to carry out an analysis of the current situation and to propose measures to assist the pig meat sector. The Commission confirmed its interest in providing political and technical support to PL and DE.
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Luxembourg MEP Tilly Metz (Greens) was appointed chair of a new committee of inquiry into animal welfare rules during transport on 23/09/2020. The vice-chairs are Marlene Mortler (EPP, DE), Anja Hazekamp (GUE / NGL, NL), Mohammed Chahim (S&D, NL) and Martin Hojsík (Renew, SK). Tilly Metz stated that the committee's main goals would be to improve cooperation between states, tighten animal welfare controls, and increase sanctions for violations.

During the Council of Ministers, agriculture ministers discussed, among other things, issues of international trade agreements, including agreements with the US, China, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. Austria and the Netherlands rejected the current version of the text of the trade agreement during the negotiations, and France calls for its amendments to prevent deforestation in the Mercosur countries. An amendment to the trade agreement is also being called for by the EP's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, which adopted its own opinion on deforestation in third countries last week.
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