News

On 13/05/2019, Bayer AG was ordered to pay the highest sum ever, more than 2 billion dollars, to the married couple who sued the company for having cancer due to the use of Roundup herbicide. Already in March 2019, Bayer was ordered to pay 80 million dollars of compensation in a similar case; in 2018 Bayer was sued for 289 million dollars. Bayer in the US faces over 13,000 similar actions.
More information is available here.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded in 2015 that Roundup is unlikely to cause cancer in people handling the substance; but in the same year, the US International Agency for Research on Cancer also examined the substance, which in turn concluded that Roundup might be carcinogenic. Both studies were examined in more detail by the French Parliament Committee, which last week concluded that EFSA had conducted a more scientifically sound assessment of potential carcinogenicity of a substance than the US International Agency.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) updated on 15/05/2019 the assessment of Xylella fastidiosa, bacteria that cause widespread contagion of plants, and against which there is no effective drug yet. The results of the introduction of chemical and biological measures showed that in some cases, the intensity of the disease has only temporarily decreased, but long-term elimination has not occurred.
More information is available here.

On 14/05/2019, Ministers of Agriculture discussed the situation on the fruit and vegetable market, particularly with regard to overproduction of apples and pears. The sector was negatively affected by closing the Russian market and the increase in production costs; moreover, the production was higher last year, leading to a fall in prices. Prices of apples and pears have fallen to 15% below the multi-year average. The export of apples has dropped by 10%, while pears have dropped by as much as 17%, the large stock of these commodities complicates the situation. BE, PL, SI and HU expressed concerns and showed interest in support from the Commission, while the situation is, according to DE, unfavourable, the Commission should however not approach the introduction of emergency measures.
More information is available here.

Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan said last week that negotiations on a trade agreement with Mercosur will continue, the EU and Mercosur still disagree on some sensitive agricultural issues, including protected geographical indications, efforts to strengthen access to Mercosur markets for EU dairy products, or efforts to increase access to EU markets for sugar from the countries of Mercosur. European sugar producers disagree with Mercosur's demands for increased access to the EU market, so they turned to Romanian Agriculture Minister Petre Daea and Commissioner Hogan to request a tariff of at least EUR 98 per tonne. According to the European Association of Sugar Producers, sugar supply to the European market would almost triple, thus undermining the balance between supply and demand.
More information is available here.

US cheese producers are calling on the US government to review and amend trade agreements to limit EU imports of cheese to US markets. According to the US producers, the producers from the EU earn just under a billion dollars by exporting cheese to the US due to the trade agreements, jeopardizing the competitiveness of local producers, at the same time they consider the protected geographical indication unfair (the US cannot export Parmesan to the EU, while the EU to the US can). Therefore, US producers are demanding a review of agreements and settlement of unfair terms.
More information is available here.