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Last week, the European Commission registered a new citizens' initiative called "End the Slaughter Age", the initiative aims to end the slaughter of livestock, to end the payment of agricultural subsidies to livestock production companies and to find alternative sources of protein, including laboratory or vegetable protein. The initiative supports the introduction of new initiatives to support the production and sale of plant and laboratory proteins. If the initiative receives at least 1 million signatures from at least seven different EU Member States during the year, the European Commission will have to respond to the public's call.
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The European Commission has granted private storage aid for 35,730 tonnes of pigmeat from 16 Member States (BE, BG, DK, DE, EE, ES, FR, IT, CY, HU, NL, PL, PT, RO, FI, and SE). The European Commission has published measures to support the private storage of pigmeat with the possibility of submitting applications in the period from 25/03/2022 to 29/04/2022. According to information from 25/04/2022, the operators submitted applications for 35,730 tons, of which more than 20,440 tons were in boned high value cutting. The main beneficiaries are NL (29%), DK (21%), ES (20%), DE (14%) and PL (6%), with operators usually opting for a two-month storage period (20,357 tonnes), with a 3-month option (9,650 t). According to Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, this step helped stabilize the market and support farmers. Pork prices in the EU are rising gradually, on 27/04/2022 the price for the average carcass weight was 195.9 €/100 kg, 19.8% more than in 2021.
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) stated in a statement of 19/04/2022 that it urgently needed €107 million to prevent a further worsening of food insecurity and disruption of supply chains in Ukraine. According to the latest estimates, farmers will not be able to sow approximately 20-30% of the land that was normally sown during this period, because the territory is either occupied by Russia or the land is mined or otherwise degraded.
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On 20/04/2022, the EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) discussed with the representatives of the European Commission (DG AGRI) the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on European agriculture and the food industry. Russia and Ukraine are major suppliers of food commodities to the world market, Russia is the world's major exporter of nitrogen fertilizers and the world's second largest supplier of potassium and phosphates, with several countries dependent on its supplies. COMAGRI members therefore called on the European Commission to address the situation, and innovative solutions should be sought to end the EU's dependence on imports from a small number of suppliers.
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European agricultural organizations, food processors and retailers (CELCAA, Copa - Cogeca, EuroCommerce, FoodDrinkEurope) issued a joint statement last week calling on the European Commission to address rising energy prices. In a joint statement, the organizations also supported adjusting food labelling rules and strengthening communication with consumers to allay their food shortages. Regarding labelling, organizations state that processors and retailers / wholesalers need help finding practical and flexible labelling solutions to provide consumers with accurate information while responding to the rapidly changing availability of individual food ingredients (EU-based alternatives should be preferred). According to European organizations, Member States should be prevented from distorting the functioning of the single market (following protectionist measures restricting the movement of agricultural commodities, food, feed, and inputs that some European countries have taken in recent weeks).
More information is available here.