News

The European Parliament's Committees on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) and on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) continue to seek the competence to prepare Parliament's opinion on the Farm to Fork Strategy. COMENVI has already elected rapporteur for the opinion, Dutch MEP Anju Hazekamp (GUE / NGL), but according to European media, the COMAGRI Committee could eventually be the lead committee for the opinion. It should be decided by 19/06/2020.

The European Commission has published a Roadmap to revise the rules on the sustainable use of pesticides. The roadmap is complemented by an initial impact assessment and sets out a plan for possible amendments to the Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticides. The Commission has launched a public consultation on the Roadmap, which is open until 07/08/2020. The public consultation will be followed by a public consultation on the revision of the Directive in the last quarter of 2020. The revised rules should be presented in the first quarter of 2021. EU pesticide sales have been stable since 2011, but the use of non-chemical alternatives is low, according to the Commission. According to the European Commission, the use of pesticides leads not only to a decrease in biodiversity, but also to water and soil pollution.
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The Polish government plans to establish a new holding company Polski Holding Spożywczy (Polish food holding company) by the end of this year, which should associate agri-food companies in Poland. Poland is also considering setting up a state-controlled supermarket chain to which Polski Holding Spożywczy would supply. This would strengthen consumers' access to Polish food, ensure a fair price for food for consumers and fair prices for farmers.
More information is available here.

Ukraine has announced to the World Trade Organization its intention to limit imports of nitrogen fertilizers from the EU from June 2020. The reason is the increase in imports of fertilizers by 37% between 2016 and June 2019, imports increased mainly from BG, LT, PL, but also Russia, Turkey, and Belarus, which reduces sales to Ukrainian fertilizer producers. The safeguard measures in place are to apply for a period of 3 years in the form of quotas. Total imports of nitrogen fertilizers from the EU and third countries will be limited to 1,422,107 tonnes during the first year. The quota will be increased by 2% in 2021 and 2022.
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Extreme droughts in Europe have also manifested themselves to a large extent in the Belgian agricultural region of West Flanders, where farmers have been banned from drawing water from the Yser River. Due to the dry season, the river level dropped below 2.9 meters, further water pumping would cause irreparable damage. The situation will have a negative impact on the Belgian agricultural sector, leading to a decline in agricultural production in 2020.
More information is available here.