LIVESTOCK IN THE UE – PERIODIC NEWS

INTRA-EU NEGOTIATIONS
Council reaches agreement on amendments to the Industrial Emissions Directive. The Member States amended the Commission’s proposal. This proposal will serve as a basis for negotiations with the European Parliament.

For MEPs, the Commission’s fertiliser strategy, which proposes mobilising the crisis reserve and increasing state aid ceilings, will not be enough. The demands are for the mobilisation of effective instruments in the longer term.

The Latvian and Lithuanian delegations draw the attention of the Commission and the Member States to the deteriorating situation in their dairy sectors. Exceptional and immediate financial support from the EU is requested by Latvia, Bulgaria and Lithuania.

NUTRITION – LABELING
The French Nutriscore no longer seems to be the only option for the Commission to design a European scheme. Brussels is currently examining the various existing display systems.

TRADE
The European agricultural sector is concerned about the planned agreement between the EU and Mercosur. While the German government defends the agreement, some Member States, such as France and Austria, share the concerns of the agricultural sector. France is demanding mirror clauses to ensure a level playing field.

REPORTS
A new EFSA report recommends avoiding the use of cages in laying hen and broiler farms.

The Commission’s Report on Pigmeat was presented. It provides socio-economic, environmental, health and animal welfare recommendations.

According to data published by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the average temperature in Europe was 1.4 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average (over the December/February period). The areas at risk are mainly northern Italy, France and Spain.

Full note available on FE Members’ area.

NUTRITION & HEALTH : IMITATION MEAT DEBUTS IN THE USA

In November, the US Food & Drugs Administration, the public office responsible for food safety, approved the first step that opens the door to commercialization to an imitation of ‘chicken’ produced in the lab by UPSIDE Food. At the same time, ingredient-provider start up is proposing to replace bees with bioreactors and precision-fermentation to supply the honey of the future. A study that was published analyzing the change in diets (based on fewer animal-based products) confirms that it could lead to a resurge of iodine deficiency disorders, with potential long-lasting impact on brain development.

More delays expected for the front-of-pack nutritional labelling dossier: in fact, even if the Commission was expected to start discussing draft legislation under the Czech Presidency of the Council, during several public events, it announced that the dossier still needs further analysis, and an impact assessment is undergoing. Probably, it will be the Swedish Presidency that will have to handle this file … if the Commission proposed a draft in the next six months.

New literature finds that industrial products that aim to imitate meat contain ‘anti-nutrients’, that do not allow the body to correctly absorb specific nutrients such as iron and zinc.

full note available on FE Members’ area

FARM TO FORK STRATEGY: MEMBER STATES CALL FOR A NEW REVISION OF SUR

November was marked by the Commission communication on fertilizers whose aim is to face the consequences of the skyrocketing prices for this agricultural input for farmers.

On the legislative dossiers, the revision of the sustainable use of pesticides has also been affected by the current crisis and the consequences of the Russian aggression to Ukraine, having an important group of member States calling for the Commission to reconsider its proposal and demanding a new Impact Assessment that considers the new situation. Mid-December, the Council adopted a formal decision asking the Commission to improve its impact assessment within a maximum period of 6 months.

The Commission also advanced ideas on the Carbon certification dossier, specifying that this certification will be granted to farms that put into practice activities that have neutral or positive impact on the environment, create a net gain in CO2 presence in the atmosphere, are additional, aim to be long-term, and are monitored.

Over the month of December, animal welfare standards have been discussed at the EU level. The EU ministers informally find an agreement on the fact that if higher standards will be applied to animals raised in the EU, so will the ones be coming from third countries (‘mirror clauses’). To set the basis for the revision of the EU legislation on the matter, the Commission presented an evaluation of the current law, concluding that the current set-up does not allow to meet current and future needs.

December also marked a provisional institutional agreement over deforestation law. Once adopted and applied, the new law will ensure that a set of key goods placed on the EU market will no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation.

full note available on FE Members’ area

NEW GENOMIC TECHNIQUES: UK AS A FRONTRUNNER FOR NEW LEGISLATION

While at the European Parliament the political group of the Greens hosted the ‘GM-free Europe’ event where policy makers and stakeholders from national and NGO organisations expressed worries around the possibility to a deregulation of ‘new GMOs’, the Commissioner for Health replied to the chair of the AGRI Committee saying that new technologies could be a way to help the implementation of the Farm to Fork objectives on pesticide reduction. Meanwhile, Presidents of several agricultural value chain organisation addressed a letter to the European Executives on the matter of NGTs, arguing for a timely adoption of the revision proposal and defending the positive aspects that these techniques will have for sustainability standards.

In the UK, concrete steps have been made towards the approval of a new legislation.

full note available on FE Members’ area

LIVESTOCK IN THE EU – CLOSE TO A PROPOSAL FOR ORIGIN LABEL

Key issues affecting the EU livestock sectors:

Avian flu cases are soaring across Europe. More than 48 million birds have died in the past year in the UK and the EU. EU farmers may no longer have to remove the free-range label from their eggs in the event of an extended mandatory housing order.

Impact of the opening of the EU market to Ukrainian poultry production. The lifting of tariffs and the suspension of quotas on Ukrainian agricultural products, including Ukrainian poultry for a year, has led to a surge in Ukrainian poultry imports into the EU. The European Commission has said it could re-impose duties if EU producers face serious difficulties.

A German parliamentary group has called for the animal welfare label to be applied to products from other EU Member States and third countries.

The Commission may present a proposal for EU-wide origin labelling early next year.

In Germany, piggeries should be converted to improve animal welfare. This could result in a reduction of the pig population.

Germany tightens animal transport rules and calls for EU-wide monitoring. Germany will also tighten rules on antibiotics for livestock.

According to the European Food Safety Authority, animal transport times should be shortened to reduce the risk of antibiotic-resistant germs.

The European Commission published in November a Communication on “Ensuring the availability and affordability of fertilisers”. The text sets out long-term objectives for Europe and the rest of the world.

MEPs call for initiative on mental health in agriculture

Members of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee have called for concerted efforts to support the mental health of EU farmers as pressures mount on the already strained sector.

The European Parliament has called for a downgrading of the protection status of wolves in the EU to help protect the livestock sector.

This resolution could put political pressure on the European Commission to re-evaluate its approach to the management of wolf populations.

full note available on FE Members’ area

FARM TO FORK NEWSLETTER: THE FERTILIZERS HEADACHE

In the midst of the price and energy crisis and the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the food market, the Commission is about to publish a communication on fertilizers (on November 9^th). According to some rumors, the Commission will call on national capitals to ensure supplies of gas for fertilizers manufacturers, and encourage to use the agricultural crisis reserve. At the same time, coming from the latest Council meeting, most of the 27 ministers of agriculture agreed on the importance of manure-made fertilizers and asked for legal flexibilities on the current nitrate legislation.

On animal welfare, while EFSA published some guidelines on the welfare of animals on transportation, stressing that transport should be short and that deep cleaning of the vehicle should be done, the German minister for agriculture is proposing a bill for a mandatory animal welfare label which might cause market distortion issues, critics argue.The European Commission, on the same topic, published an overview of the achievements and challenges of the current Animal welfare legislation, concluding that the current setting has improved the welfare of many EU animals including their protection during transport and slaughter.

full note available on FE Members’ area

LIVESTOCK IN THE EU – A DECLINING MEAT AND DAIRY PRODUCTION

The European Commission’s short-term outlook – Autumn 2022 edition – shows that production of meat and dairy products in the European Union is expected to decline this year, and the following one.

Persistently high feed costs and African swine fever (ASF) continue to limit the growth of EU pigmeat production.

Beef production is expected to decline by -0.6% in 2022, mainly due to structural adjustment in the beef and dairy sector, despite high prices.

New records in Europe of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), and a persistent virus in wild birds continue to impact the poultry sector.

Signs of declining livestock production warn of limited supplies which could exacerbate the high food inflation in Europe. The historic drought has reduced the availability of grass and feed (especially maize), thereby increasing costs for farms, which are also faced with soaring energy and fertiliser prices.

In view of a review of animal welfare legislation the Commission has published a “Fitness Check” which gives an overview of the achievements and challenges of current animal welfare legislation.

The European Scientific Committee of the Nutri-score has published an update of the algorithm which is supposed to be more “consistent” and “aligned” with nutritional and public health recommendations. These changes propose a more severe rating for certain foods, including meat.

The European Parliament voted in mid-September to extend the list of agricultural products covered by the future new anti-deforestation law to include maize, poultry and pork.

According to the World Climate Report, methane emissions are overestimated, with cattle producing 3 to 4 times less carbon dioxide than assumed.

The Swiss initiative “No to intensive livestock farming in Switzerland” was rejected by 63%.

full note available on FE Members’ area

NUTRITION & HEALTH : EU label legislation postponed

As the expectations around the Commission’s proposal about a EU-wide nutritional labelling systems are getting higher, many events are being organized around this topic. However, the Commission seems that it will postpone this legislative initiative at a later stage of 2023 considering the ‘complexity’ of the issue and the fact that more time is needed for the EU executive to take a final position on the matter. At the same time, Italian researchers have proposed another label to be displayed on food products, the ‘Med Index’, that would promote those products that are in line with the Mediterranean diet and with its principles of sustainability (i.e., nutritional, environmental, and social).

In the meantime, traditional and nature-sourced food products are being challenged by the development of lab-grown protein industry, with start-up in the field raising capitals to open new production facilities to scale up, expand their offer, and the geographical location. In this context, a study analyzed consumers’ openness to lab-grown dairy (through precision fermentation) and found that the overall safety concerns as well as questions about the technical process of production were frequently underlined. However, only few individuals within the early adoption group expressed opposition to the products while the majority of the people interviewed were ‘on the fence’ as to whether they would consider trying the product.

full note available on FE Members’ area

NEW GENOMIC TECHNIQUES: PATHS OPEN TO NEW LEGISLATION, SUPPORT AND RISK ASSESMENTS

Outside the EU, states like Kenya and Ukraine open up to the possibility to have a more flexible legislation around genetic engineering techniques. Within the EU, the French organization for biotechnology pushes for a stronger use of new genomic techniques to assure food security and face the climate challenges. At the same time, EFSA developed some criteria on risk assessment for plants produced by targeted mutagenesis, cisgenesis and intregenesis.

full note available on FE Members’ area

NUTRITION & HEALTH : CONSENSUS FOR A NEW ALGORITHM

Over the summer, the scientific committee in charge of NutriScore, the front-of-pack nutritional labelling systems in used in 6 EU countries agreed on changing the algorithm behind the scoring system. The changes concern the calculation of fats and oilseeds, and a specific rule for red meat. On the same front, Italy upgraded the national nutritional labelling, Nutinform, with the digital version of it: an app.

In preparation for the awaited renovation package concerning Food information to consumers (expected to be advanced in the early months of 2023), the Joint Research center published some research on nutritional labelling, origin labelling, alcoholic labelling. These studies will be most likely used as a base for the Commission to draft its legislative proposals.

full note available on FE Members’ area