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Swiss company Givandon introduced a new red colouring, specially developed for dyeing vegetable meat substitutes. The product, called Vegebrite Veggie Reds combines beetroot with other natural extracts and is intended for any plant-based meat substitutes, especially for raw vegetable product alternatives intended to replace meat in hamburgers. The colour of the raw material turns red in the raw state, the resulting food turns brown by heat treatment. The new colouring does’t need to be marked with an "E" number, its use is not restricted. More information is available here.

Chinese government veterinary research institute reportedly developed a vaccine against African swine fever, according to a statement from the institute last week. A weakened first strain of infection was used to produce the vaccine, and the vaccine was confirmed to be safe and effective. According to the Institute spokesman, the vaccine is a promising prevention against the spread of the disease in China and other countries, the expected date of commencement of production has not yet been indicated. The United States also confirmed the development of the vaccine in January 2020, but experts say it will take years for the US African swine fever vaccine to be available to farmers. More information is available here.

Last week, German Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner said it was very unlikely that imported goods, including food, would be a source of contagion for spreading coronavirus in Europe. Food supply is considered safe, according to the German risk assessment authorities, no case of virus spread through contaminated food or imported food and goods has been proven (here). Representatives of Italy ask the European Commission to extend the deadline for submission of applications for direct payments from the CAP until 15/10/2020, for rural development programs until 31/12/2020 (here). In connection with the spread of coronavirus, the European Parliament was closed to the public on 02/03/2020 for three weeks, but the work of the European Parliament continues. Emergency measures also moved the sessions of the European Parliament plenary from Strasbourg to Brussels. Due to travel restrictions, some public conferences, including the EDA Dairy Policy Conference organized by the European Dairy Association, have been cancelled.

Negotiations on trade relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom started on 02/03/2020, the first round was concluded on 05/03/2020. Both sides discussed 11 topics, covering trade in goods, services and investment, a level playing field, transport, fishing, and UK participation in EU programs. EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier warned the UK against withdrawing from the protocol with Northern Ireland if the agreement with the EU is to be concluded by the end of 2020. Negotiations will continue. More information is available here.

The European Council discussed the Multiannual Financial Framework 20-21/02/2020 but did not reach a conclusion. The next European Council is due to take place at the end of March 2020. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, will now have to draw up a new negobox, a document containing financial allocations and concrete proposals for some related measures, including capping or external convergence. However, four EU Member States - Austria, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands - still refuse to raise the EU budget above 1% of GNP, however, the Netherlands's position is very strict, refusing to negotiate budget increases. On the other hand, Hungary supports the budget increase to almost 1.3% of GNP. The increase to 1.3% of GNP is also supported by the European Parliament, which, according to Manfred Weber, chairman of the EPP's largest political group, will not support the Council's position until there has been a shift away from cutting the EU budget.
More information is available here.