The Czech presidency of the EU Council has published its work programme for the next six months, pledging progress on the food labelling regulation proposal, debate on food quality issues, simplification of the CAP and discussions on the policy’s future.
The EU needs to channel more funding into organic research to counter the ills facing agriculture, say advocates at the launch of the new Technology Platform: Organics.
Ugly and misshapen fruit and vegetables are to be permitted for sale in Europe for the first time – but equal rights are still a dream for many grocery items covered by separate regulations.
A proposal to send unspent EU subsidies to developing countries worst hit by food price rises would have knock-on benefits for the EU, according to the rapporteur leading a Development Committee debate yesterday.
Imperfect as they may be, the European Union’s regulatory efforts in the food area have attracted the attention of regulators around the world, some of whom view what is being done in the bloc as a legislative template.
Populations around the Mediterranean are abandoning their traditional healthy diets, the FAO has warned, as incomes increase and consumers opt for more meat, saturated fats and time-saving processed foods.
The European Commission has set tough import standards for
Ukrainian sunflower oil following the recent discovery that some
products were contaminated.
Real Good Food today reported a drop in profits for 2007, which the
UK-based firm blamed on ongoing EU sugar reforms as well as the
escalating price of raw ingredients.
Rice imported from the United States no longer needs to be tested
for the presence of GM material both at the point of export and on
arrival in the EU, following an amendment to emergency measures
following the 2006 contamination...
UK-based processors are being consulted over plans by the country's
Food Standards Agency for mandatory testing of Chinese rice imports
over fears of contamination from unapproved Genetically Modified
Organisms (GMO).
The European Commission is introducing emergency measures to
prevent rice products contaminated with unauthorised GM material
from China entering the EU food supply, as efforts to curtail the
problem in the country of origin prove...
Talks are under way in Hungary aimed at returning 50 per cent of
the country's sugar quota to the restructuring fund, in light of
the latest sugar reforms announced by the European Union.
Suedzucker has adjusted its profit and revenue expectations for
full year 2007/8 following EU moves to make sugar reform more
attractive to growers, indicating that the industry efforts to
lessen the blow for the industry could be...
A European-wide shortage in fish oil supplements has been predicted
by the European Federation of Health Product Manufacturers (EHPM)
because of new EU hygiene rules.
Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson yesterday delivered a strong
exhortation to the EU to take a lead in shaping global rules on GM
trade - particularly in defending objective science as a benchmark
- or suffer the economic consequences.
The EU has expressed concern that new anti-dumping tariffs imposed
on exports of its potato starch by China, are unfairly targeting
producers within the bloc.
European farmers are lagging behind the rest of the world in terms
of access to agricultural biotechnology, according to the president
of the European Federation of Biotechnology.
Bulgarian dairy and meat producers that fail to comply with EU food
safety measures face a continued ban on trading with member states
even after the countries upcoming ascension to the bloc.
Associated British Foods (ABF) yesterday blamed a drop in operating
profits of 21 per cent to £413m (€612.9m) before on higher energy
costs and instability arising from EU sugar reforms.
An EU scientific advisory body yesterday approved Bulgaria and
Romania's contingency plans forcontrolling outbreaks of avian
influenza, Newcastle disease, classical swine fever and
foot-and-mouth disease.
More than one in 20 pesticides sold in the EU could be fake,
potentially endangering food safety and human health, according to
the Society of Chemical Industry.
Ingredients giant Tate and Lyle could be set to cease its sugar
processing operations in Central Europe, as producers look to lower
quotas in light of new EU sugar reforms.
The European Commission spent nearly €5bn more on agriculture in
2005 than it did in 2004, according to the 'Allocation of 2005 EU
expenditure by Member State' published yesterday.
The results of the EC's public consultation on promoting healthy
diets and physical activity, published today, suggest that most
stakeholders favour a multi-sector approach to tackling obesity.
The sale of Bulgarian pig meat could soon be prohibited unless the
government can prove it is successfully tackling increased
outbreaks of Classical Swine fever (CSF) in the country, according
to a new USDA report.
Further compounding the problems a long-grain rice ban in Japan
will have on US producers is the threat that bans could eventually
be implemented in the EU.
The European Commission has launched an online database and a
journal to help regulators and processors share information on the
EU's new hygiene regulations as they are applied across the bloc.
The EU's approach to GM food regulation has little theoretical
basis, and panders to the fears and prejudices of its citizens,
according to a US scientist.
The chairman of Kraft Foods, the world's second biggest food
company, Roger Deromedi, has launched an attack on EU and US trade
barriers that are driving up the price of commodity ingredients
such as sugar and coffee.
As expected, restructuring costs within Danisco's sugar division
have impacted full year results, though organic growth was
'satisfactory under the given trading conditions'.
A total of about 47 food safety problems were reported across the
EU last week, including a cluster of alerts about aflatoxins in
nuts and unauthorised cheese from the UK.
International food giants Arla Foods and Danisco got more subsidies
from the EU than anyone else in their native Denmark last year,
says a new report, adding yet more controversy to Europe's farm
support scheme.
Proposed changes to the EU's regulation on novel foods would boost
product innovation in the industry, and make cross-border trading
easier, the European Commission says in a consultative document.
Agrana, which claims to be the leading sugar and starch producer in
Central and Eastern Europe, plans to expand its activities towards
the Western Balkans.
Various quality assurance schemes used in the food industry should
remain voluntary, the bloc's food industry association says in
attempting to forestall planned EU legislation on the subject.
A growing conflict between the food industry and biofuel
manufacturers over rapeseed oil supply will be resolved at EU
parliamentary level, as members decide the future of edible oil
distribution.
