News

On 18/10/2019, the European Commission has launched the Observatory to monitor the situation in the fruit and vegetable market. The Observatory should aim at enhancing transparency and awareness of the market situation of the sector, which represents around 24% of the value of EU agricultural production. The Observatory will monitor developments in specific commodities - apples, pears, citrus, peaches, nectarines, and tomatoes. The Observatory to monitor the situation on the wine market should also be launched in early November.
The observatory is available here.

Member States of the European Union voted last week during the SCOPAFF Standing Committee not to renew approval of active substance, Thiacloprid. Member States voted unanimously against the renewal of the license, with only the United Kingdom abstaining in view of the planned Brexit. The decisions should now be approved by the European Commission; the ban on the use of the substance will apply from 30/04/2020.

At its plenary session on 23/10/2019, the European Parliament approved the introduction of stricter rules for assessing the impact of plant protection products (PPP) on honeybees. The outcome of the vote was to block the European Commission's draft legislation adopted in summer 2019 by the Standing Committee on Pesticides Legislation, which set an acceptable threshold for the toxicity of bee-damaging pesticides. The original proposal was intended to incorporate the 2013 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Guidelines on options for reducing the use of pesticides that harm pollinators - but most Member States have rejected its full implementation. The European Commission will now have to come up with a new draft regulation based on the latest scientific and technical knowledge in view of the acute danger not only to honeybees but also to other pollinators.
More information is available here.

On 4-5/11/2019, the European Commission and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) organize a seminar on retail chains and purchasing alliances to assess the extent and economic impact of these alliances on other actors in the supply chain. The bargaining power of trade alliances can lead to boycott of some products, with a severe impact on many EU suppliers. The European Parliament recommended carrying out an impact and impact assessment of these alliances after these alliances were not included in the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive despite pressure from the European Parliament. The seminar participants will discuss the functionality, economic impact or legal framework of these alliances and their impact on other players in the food supply chain. Representatives of trade alliances, who expressed concern that the seminar could lead to further regulation of the supply chain, will also attend the seminar and will therefore aim to emphasize that trade alliances are not intended to blackmail farmers and ensure the lowest feed-in tariffs, consumer.

Denmark is the first EU country to ban the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) in food packaging - these types of packaging materials are particularly suitable for packaging fatty foods. Danish Minister of Agriculture Jensen Mogens has been working to ban the use of PFAS packaging since July 2020. This is mainly due to the accumulation of these substances in human and animal bodies, but also to the negative impact on the environment.

On 20/10/2019, the European FoodDrinkEurope, representing food and beverage producers, signed a declaration promoting the reuse of recycled plastics. By 2025, up to 10 million tonnes of recycled plastic should be reused to produce new products. Almost 100 organizations and institutions have signed the Circular Plastics Alliance. In addition, members of FoodDrinkEurope and the European Sector Association will sign a statement that will make the food and beverage industry the greatest supporter of this initiative.
More information is available here and here.