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On 28/08/2019, the Member States of the European Union agreed on a package of support measures proposed by the European Commission to compensate for the effects of this year's drought and to increase the availability of feed for cattle. Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan said that the European Commission was in close contact with all Member States and will continue to monitor the situation. Farmers affected by drought will be entitled to receive higher percentages of CAP payments, namely up to 70% of the allocation for direct payments (by mid-October 2019) and up to 85% of the allocation for rural development programs (as soon as the package is formally adopted). In addition, the European Commission will allow exemptions from the greening rules to ensure sufficient livestock feed. Farmers will be allowed to declare fallow land, for example as an area of ecological interest, even when grazed or harvested; farmers will also be able to harvest crops sooner than after the currently mandatory 8 weeks. The package of measures must now be formally adopted, with the deadline foreseen for early September 2019.

According to the latest data from the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC, here), corn yields will fall by up to 2% due to drought this year, sugar beet and potato yields will also be below average. Yields of rye, soft wheat and durum wheat should also be slightly lower in 2019. France will authorize the construction of up to 60 reservoirs to collect rainwater in the context of drought, which should allow the irrigation of agricultural land during the drought.
More information is available here.

Danish Minister for Agriculture and Food Mogens Jensen said that according to surveys, up to three quarters of Danish consumers are interested in eating in a more sustainable way. The Ministry will therefore prepare new schemes to help consumers in this context, but the Danish government has not yet published any detailed information on what the schemes or tools should look like. But Jensen said that this could be a new type of food labelling, while at the same time the Common Agricultural Policy and its options to ensure and promote sustainable food production should be explored.

Latvian Minister of Agriculture Kaspars Gerhards asked Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, to introduce new measures to protect European consumers from the health risks associated with the consumption of eggs imported from Ukraine. Latvia is Europe's largest importer of Ukrainian eggs, but the Latvian supervisory authorities have detected a number of serious violations of European rules on food safety and health. Therefore, Latvia has asked the Commission for stricter monitoring of Ukrainian egg supplies, with particular attention to the risks of salmonellosis. Latvia discovered salmonella in eggs delivered from Ukraine as early as April this year.
More information is available here.

In the framework of a trade agreement with Australia, the European Union calls for the protection of the geographical origin of food and beverages (GIs) for a number of items. Food and beverages that would be protected under a trade agreement include, for example, Scottish beef, Feta, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano. From the Czech production, the protection should apply to Budweiser beer, Budweiser brew, Czech beer, České Budějovice beer and Žatec hops. Australian food producers disagree with the European Union's proposal, and criticism is expressed, in particular, by the cheese producers who have described the proposal as hypocritical. According to Australian producers, EU requirements will create an additional obstacle to free trade, according to them; Australia should not accept the offer unless the EU provides exceptional access for Australian food to EU markets. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has launched a three-month public consultation on the EU offer.
More information is available here.

The European Commission will present to the Member States a proposal not to renew the license for the use of the active substance chlorpyrifos. The European Commission is thus responding to the recommendations of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which has recently published an evaluation of this substance, often used for the cultivation of, for example, broccoli or oranges. According to the EFSA assessment, chlorpyrifos may be a genotoxic substance and may therefore interfere with the proper development of children. The current license expires in January 2020.