News

The Citizens' Initiative 'End the Cage Age' to end the use of animal cages was terminated on 11/09/2019. The organizers managed to get more than 1.5 million signatures of EU citizens from a total of 18 EU Member States. The petition was launched in September 2018 by Compassion in World Farming in cooperation with Eurogroup for Animals. The result of the petition will now be dealt with by the European Commission (but the European Commission has no obligation to amend existing legislation) and the European Parliament. The success of the petition is an important milestone in the history of the animal protection movement, and it is expected that the new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will reflect on initiatives in this area. The initiative could also be supported by the new Commissioner for Agriculture, presumably Polish candidate Janusz Wojciechowski. Last week, Wojciechowski suggested using CAP funds to promote higher animal welfare standards.

France is considering a ban on the use of two active substances - sulfoxaflor and flupyradifuron, which have similar effects as neonicotinoids. In particular, their impact on bee and other pollinator populations is of concern. The French government has launched a public consultation (here) on a possible ban on the use of these substances in order to find out the views of the public. In turn, the active substance producers, Bayer and Corteva, responded to the situation by declaring that France would, in the event of a ban on sulfoxaflor and flupyradifuron, counteract all the scientifically sound data available for these substances. Sulfoxaflor was approved for use last month by the US government in accordance with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conclusions that there is no risk of any adverse effects on bees or other pollinators.

France launched a consultation on 09/09/2019 on a proposal to set the parameters of the so-called buffer zone (zone in which pesticides may not be used) around residential areas. In line with the recommendations of the French Agency for Food, Environment, Health and Safety (Anses), the width of the 5-10 m zone should depend on the crops grown in the area. Low crops (eg vegetables) could be included in the 5 m buffer zone, higher crops (e.g. cereals) in the 10 m zone. According to the NGO France Nature Environment, the proposed distances are not sufficient and should therefore be extended. The French Government should decide on the final width of the buffer zones in October or November 2019.
More information is available here.

The European Commission published a report on trade in agricultural and food commodities for 2018 on 05/09/2019. According to the report, imports of agri-food products to the EU amounted to EUR 116.8 billion, thus placing the EU in second place behind the US with imports of agri-food - food commodities with a total value of EUR 117.7 billion. The EU's agri-food commodity exports in 2018 amounted to almost EUR 138 billion, making the EU the world's largest exporter in the sector. Compared to 2017, total EU exports decreased by 0.2%, imports fell by 1%. Exports of agri-food goods to the USA, China, Switzerland, Japan and Russia accounted for up to 40% of European exports in 2018.
More information is available here.

On 10/09/2019, the Commission issued Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1392 of September 9th 2019 amending the Annex to Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU concerning animal health control measures for African swine fever in certain Member States.
The Implementing Decision is available here.