News

The European Parliament’s decision to ban palm oil, Malaysia’s biggest export item, is “drastic and discriminatory” and Kuala Lumpur is ready to retaliate with its own trade measures against Europe’s products if the ban takes effect, Malaysia’s Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said. Read the original post.

In order to help inform its work on date marking, the Commission launched a study to map how date marking is used in the market by food business operators and control authorities. This study found wide variation in date marking practices within product categories surveyed in the EU. The legibility of date marks was judged to be poor for 11% of products sampled. The study highlights the role that strengthened cooperation and innovation in the food supply chain can play in preventing food waste and finds that additional guidance may be needed to facilitate food redistribution past the "best before" date. Market study is available here.

The European Parliament has adopted the mandate of a special committee to look into the EU’s authorisation procedure for pesticides. The special committee is a response to concerns raised about the risk posed by the herbicide substance glyphosate. The herbicide had its marketing licence renewed by EU member states for five years in November last year.

A law to strengthen EU curbs on CO2 emissions from industry, so as to begin delivering on Paris climate accord pledges, was passed by Parliament on Tuesday. The text was approved by 535 votes to 104, with 39 abstentions. It will now go back to Council for formal adoption before publication in the EU Official Journal. Read more

The European Commission has today published a draft text of the transitional arrangements to be included in the Article 50 Withdrawal Agreement, following the United Kingdom's request to remain in the Single Market and the Customs Union for a short time-limited period after its withdrawal from the European Union on 30 March 2019. Today's text reflects the clear, detailed mandate provided to the Commission by the Member States on such possible transitional arrangements.