News

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on 10/05/2022 the postponement of the submission of their scientific opinion on a possible re-approval of the glyphosate use license. The opinion was originally scheduled for September 2022 but will not be published before July 2023 due to an unprecedented number of comments and scientific input from stakeholders on the draft evaluation report published last year. As the opinion should not be published until half a year after the current glyphosate authorization expires (expires in December 2022), the Commission and Member States could try to extend the authorization for 1 year. Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides expressed her concern about the situation.
More information is available here and here.

The European Commission also informed of a plan to phase out the temporary state aid framework in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic. The temporary framework was adopted on 19/03/2020, allowing Member States to compensate for serious economic disruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic. The plan will run until the current expiration date, which is 30/06/2022. According to the Commission, the current phasing-out and subsequent transition plan will not change, and Member States will continue to have the possibility to adopt special investment support measures until 31/12/2022 and special solvency support measures until 31/12/2023, as already announced in November last year.
More information is available here.

The European Parliament adopted its opinion on the EU action plan for organic agriculture on 03/05/2022 during the Strasbourg Plenary. The own-initiative report was prepared in response to the European Commission's action plan of March 2021, in which the European Commission reaffirmed its plan to strengthen organic farming to 25% of farmland. This target, 25% for organic farming, is missing in the European Parliament's new opinion. On the contrary, in its opinion, Parliament emphasized the need for market-oriented solutions, greater support for Member States in drawing up their national organic farming strategies and organic farming research to increase production in line with demand. Short, local and seasonal supply chains should be encouraged. However, Parliament's position is not binding, it does not change the ambitions of the European Commission. The Commission should present a review of the European Commission's action plan for organic agriculture by 2024.
More information is available here and here.

The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) issued a report last week stating that threats to food security parties may become more frequent in the future. According to IPES-Food, world leaders have not learned from previous food crises, whether from the 2007-2008 crisis, the price increase in 2010-2012 or the coronavirus crisis in 2020-2021, because reforms of world food systems are too slow and with a great delay. In addition, virtually all measures taken are of a short-term nature. According to IPES-Food, the rapidly evolving food security crisis triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine was not inevitable. The report's authors identify four major weaknesses in the global food system that make it vulnerable to shocks, including the war in Ukraine.
More information is available here.

The European Commission is due to present its report on mirror clauses in June 2022, one of the priorities of the French Presidency. DG SANTE, DG AGRI, DG TRADE and DG ENVI are now working on the technical analysis, with submission expected early next month. The report should be officially presented on 13/06/2022 during the Luxembourg Agriculture Council. According to the current draft document, the European Commission sees room for application of health and environmental requirements (including animal welfare) to imported products in a WTO-compatible manner, although each case must be carefully analysed - any regulatory proposals that would apply to application of production standards must undergo an individual assessment of their compatibility with WTO rules.
More information is available here.