News

Russia is to introduce a new nationwide ‘traffic light’, food labelling system. Read the original post

The new plant breeding techniques are a major opportunity to move toward sustainable agriculture and simultaneously ensure food quality for EU consumers, MEP Paolo De Castro (S&D) said. According to him, the EU should embrace innovation more and more in order to boost food production and cut the environmental impact of farming. Read the original post

The French agriculture minister wants to set up an alliance with other agricultural countries (ES, PT, IE) to avoid a 5% cut in Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding envisaged in the EU’s 2021-2027 budget proposal. Read the original post

The Commission today on 4 May a new report on the implementation of the Nitrates Directive. With this Directive, the EU aims to protect water quality across Europe by preventing pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources and by promoting the use of good farming practices. The report shows that the Directive has been successful in reducing water pollution caused by nitrates in both surface and groundwater in the last two decades. The report however points to some disparities among Member States, which calls for renewed efforts to bring waters in the European Union to a good status. More details can be found here.

On 4 May, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) launched a public consultation on its Draft guidance on communication of uncertainty in scientific assessments. EFSA explained that its “scientists are introducing a more harmonized and transparent way of accounting for the limitations in scientific knowledge – the ‘uncertainties’ – in their scientific assessments.” The communication guidance “aims to help our different audiences to understand this information by providing it in a more accessible language tailored to their needs.” Earlier this year, EFSA published its “Guidance on uncertainty analysis in scientific assessments”. Written comments can be submitted until June 24.