News

On 13/08/2019, the European Commission issued Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1344 of 12 August 2019 imposing a provisional countervailing duty on imports of biodiesel originating in Indonesia. Customs duties have been increased from 8% to 18% and apply to subsidized Indonesian biodiesel - support for the Indonesian industry is received mainly through grants, tax relief, and access to raw materials at very low prices. These are provisional duties which could, if necessary, be converted into permanent duties. A review of whether or not to lift the increased duties should take place in mid-December 2019. The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), an organization representing European producers, welcomed the European Commission's decision. According to the Secretary-General of EBB, this is not a step to start a trade war with Indonesia, but a step to stop unfair trade practices that are harmful to the European manufacturing industry as a whole, in particular the renewable sector.
More information is available here.

The new French company Siga has proposed a new type of labelling to provide consumers with information about the degree of processing of specific foods. According to Siga, consumers should be able to better identify which products are natural and healthy and which belong to highly processed foods. The motivation for creating a new type of labelling is the ever-growing problem of obesity and its link with the consumed food and diseases. Existing types of labelling, according to the authors of the proposal, concentrate too unilaterally only on the final composition and calorific value of food, but there is no information on food transformation during its processing. The new type of labelling takes into account all ingredients and additives, resulting scheme ranges from 'unprocessed' to 'highly industrially processed'.
More information is available here.

European academics have recommended the introduction of a new type of labelling on food labels to provide consumers with information on how much carbon footprint the production of specific foods or beverages has left. With this information, consumers would then be able to understand how much environmental impact their food production has and would be able to choose more environmentally friendly and climate-friendly alternatives. Large retail chains, including Tesco, had already dealt with a similar type of labelling in 2016, but dropped the idea due to the complexity involved.
More information is available here.

Food prices in the European Union are rising rapidly, by 2% between July 2018 and July 2019. According to statistics, food prices in the European Union increased by an average of 3.01% per year between 1997 and 2019. In 2016, households spent a total of EUR 1.123 billion on food and beverages, EU households spend 13.5% of their total budget on food on average. The rise in prices in the EU is influenced by a number of factors, including increased taxes, food tariffs, political and social events, exchange rates, weather fluctuations and climate change. The most expensive foods are in Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Denmark, while the cheapest are in Ukraine.
More information is available here.

Malta banned the use of the active substance chlorpyrifos on 13/08/2019, whose further use was not recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) earlier this month. Malta, in response to EFSA's recommendations, has introduced an immediate ban on its use, even before the European Commission has reached the conclusion. According to EFSA results, this active substance may be neurotoxic, cause neurological development in children, as well as changes in human DNA. So far, the substance is used in the cultivation of oranges or broccoli. Malta will become the eighth European country where chlorpyrifos is not allowed to be used. In addition, in the context of the EFSA recommendation, the substance is likely to be banned in the EU after the current license expires, i.e. after 31/01/2020.
More information is available here.