News

Leaders from the EU and Japan have once again stated their aim of reaching a free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of the year, with President Juncker stating that talks are “now in a decisive, and hopefully final, stage”. President Juncker's statements are available here.

The call for experts for the two newest EU market observatories – on arable crops and sugar was opened on 15th March. Learn more .

AGRI will organise a hearing on Sustainable Plant Protection on 20 March from 15.00 to 17.30h in room PHS 3C050, Brussels. Five experts are invited to address Members: Mr Chinn, Centre for Applied Crop Science, UK, Mr Lembacher, Austrian Chamber of Agriculture, Ms Kienzle, Organic Fruit Growing Organisation, Germany, Mr. Alarcón Roldán, DG for Agricultural and Livestock Production of Andalucía and Mr Danielewicz, Institute of Plant Protection, National Research Institute, Poland.

Plans to tighten up official food inspections, from farm to fork, were adopted by Parliament on Wednesday. The new rules, already informally agreed by MEPs and the Council, aims to improve food traceability, combat fraud and restore consumer trust in the integrity of the food chain. Learn more .

According to the Bank of Rabobank, European livestock farms are growing. While total livestock numbers are trending downwards, an increasing number of dairy cows and pigs is housed on increasingly larger-growing farms. At the same time, the amount of available labour per animal has come down, enabled by ongoing mechanisation and modernisation. Learn more.