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Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan welcomed the conclusion of an agreement on the recognition of geographical indications (Gl's) between the EU and China on 06/11/2019 in Beijing. Both parties will recognize 100 high quality products of the other party from the moment the Agreement enters into force, and an additional 175 product markings over the next 4 years. There are 3 products on the product list that will not be protected from the first day of the agreement. The name Feta will be protected only 8 years after the entry into force of the agreement, Asiago in 6 years, and Pecorino Romano in 3 years. The agreement must now be approved by the EU Council and the European Parliament. The Member States ES, GR, DE, FR and CZ were satisfied with the outcome of the agreement; at the same time, IT called for measures to better promote the export of EU agricultural and food products to the Chinese market.

On 18/11/2019, the Polish Minister of Agriculture, Jan Ardanowski, expressed concern about the large exports of Ukrainian commodities and food products to the European Union, specifically mentioning the export of maize - up to 60% of the total Ukrainian exports of maize are destined for the Polish market. Given the different climatic conditions, the high quality of the soil in Ukraine and the cheap manpower in Ukraine, Ukrainian maize is significantly cheaper, Polish maize production is uncompetitive on the domestic market. LV, HU and RO also joined the concerns of the Polish Minister, focusing not only on the export of cereals but also honey and chicken. The Polish Minister asked the Commission to check whether Ukrainian farmers are using active substances that are banned in the EU, as well as to check the origin of foodstuffs - in order to ascertain whether the Ukrainian production actually originated in Ukraine and not, for example, Russia or China. However, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan sees no reason to intervene, according to him, maize imports into the PL are just over 1% of total EU imports, and in the current year Polish imports are less than 30,000 tonnes.
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The European Court of Justice stated on 25/07/2018 that new breeding techniques in the European Union should be assessed and approved according to the same rules as GMOs since April 2021. Many representatives of farmers or politicians but with the conclusions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) disagreed; during the conference on 19/11/2019 they expressed their concerns, in particular, about the significant negative impacts that would be a threat to the whole sector if the ECJ conclusions were implemented. Representatives of the European Commission stated during the conference that the conclusions of the ECJ must be implemented, but the European Commission should carry out a study to assess the impact of the implementation of this decision, the study should be available at the end of April 2021.
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Glyphosate is licensed for use in the European Union until mid-December 2022, and a multiannual evaluation process on the health and environmental impact of this substance will be launched next month. A number of Member States, including France, Germany or Austria, have already indicated their interest in banning the use of the active substance before the expiry of the pan-European license, a common reason being the fear of a possible carcinogenicity of glyphosate. Director of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Bjorn Hansen said ECHA as such does not classify glyphosate as a carcinogenic substance, but glyphosate is, according to ECHA, dangerous for its environmental impact, especially for watercourses, meadows and biodiversity. According to Hansen, the use of glyphosate leads to the death of a number of plants that were not the primary target for drug application, resulting in monocultures without wild plants.

The Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, István Nagy, called on the Council of Ministers on 18/11/2019 for urgent assistance to the beekeeping sector due to a decrease in the current profitability of the HU sector by an average of 50% over the last 5 years. HU suggested increasing flexibility for Member States to transfer funds between pillars, e.g. from EAGF sector programs (EAGF) or EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development) and granting aid for the purchase of hives, combs and sugar under quality improvement measures in the case of CAP strategic plans. The draft measures were supported by FR, CZ and CY. However, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan stressed that the number of hives in the EU was the highest in 2018, and although there was a small decrease (-0.2%) in HU between 2017 and 2018, the long-term trend is increasing. Hogan also said that the Commission proposed to increase the budget for the sector from 40 million to 60 million euros, pending the approval of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework.
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