Annexes to COM(2020)381 - Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2020)381 - Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2020)381  |
| date | May 20, 2020 |
EU trade policy should contribute to enhance cooperation with and to obtain ambitious commitments from third countries in key areas such as animal welfare, the use of pesticides and the fight against antimicrobial resistance. The EU will strive to promote international standards in the relevant international bodies and encourage the production of agri-food products complying with high safety and sustainability standards, and will support small-scale farmers in meeting these standards and in accessing markets. The EU will also boost cooperation to improve nutrition and to alleviate food insecurity by strengthening resilience of food systems and reducing food waste.
The EU will focus its international cooperation on food research and innovation, with particular reference to climate change adaptation and mitigation; agro-ecology; sustainable landscape management and land governance; conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; inclusive and fair value chains; nutrition and healthy diets; prevention of and response to food crises, particularly in fragile contexts; resilience and risk preparedness; integrated pest management; plant and animal health and welfare, and food safety standards, antimicrobial resistance as well as sustainability of its coordinated humanitarian and development interventions. The EU will build on ongoing initiatives 46 , and integrate policy coherence for sustainable development in all its policies. These actions will reduce the pressure on biodiversity worldwide. As such, better protection of natural ecosystems, coupled with efforts to reduce wildlife trade and consumption, will help to prevent and build up resilience to possible future diseases and pandemics.
To reduce the EU’s contribution to global deforestation and forest degradation, the Commission will present in 2021 a legislative proposal and other measures to avoid or minimise the placing of products associated with deforestation or forest degradation on the EU market.
The EU will apply zero tolerance in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and combat overfishing, promote sustainable management of fish and seafood resources and strengthen ocean governance, marine cooperation and coastal management 47 .
The Commission will incorporate all the above mentioned priorities in the programming guidance for cooperation with third countries in the period 2021-2027 with due consideration to transversal objectives such as human rights, gender, and peace and security.
Imported food must continue to comply with relevant EU regulations and standards. The Commission will take into account environmental aspects when assessing requests for import tolerances for pesticide substances no longer approved in the EU while respecting WTO standards and obligations. To address the global threat of antimicrobial resistance, products of animal origin imported into the EU will have to comply with strict requirements on the use of antibiotics in line with the recently agreed veterinary medicinal products Regulation.
A more sustainable EU food system also requires increasingly sustainable practices by our trading partners. In order to promote a gradual move towards the use of safer plant protection products, the EU will consider, in compliance with WTO rules and following a risk assessment, to review import tolerances for substances meeting the "cut-off criteria" 48 and presenting a high level of risk for human health The EU will engage actively with trading partners, especially with developing countries, to accompany the transition towards the more sustainable use of pesticides to avoid disruptions in trade and promote alternative plant protection products and methods.
The EU will promote the global transition to sustainable food systems in international standard setting bodies, relevant multilateral fora and international events, including the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the Nutrition for Growth Summit and the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021, in all of which it will seek ambitious policy outcomes.
As part of its approach to food information to consumers and combined with the legislative framework on sustainable food systems, the EU will promote schemes (including an EU sustainable food labelling framework) and lead the work on international sustainability standards and environmental footprint calculation methods in multilateral fora to promote a higher uptake of sustainability standards. It will also support enforcement of rules on misleading information.
5.Conclusions
The European Green Deal is an opportunity to reconcile our food system with the needs of the planet and to respond positively to Europeans’ aspirations for healthy, equitable and environmentally-friendly food. The aim of this strategy is to make the EU food system a global standard for sustainability. The transition to sustainable food systems requires a collective approach involving public authorities at all levels of governance (including cities, rural and coastal communities), private‑sector actors across the food value chain, non-governmental organisations, social partners, academics and citizens.
The Commission invites all citizens and stakeholders to engage in a broad debate to formulate a sustainable food policy including in national, regional and local assemblies. The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to endorse this strategy and contribute to implementing it. The Commission will reach out to citizens on this strategy in a coordinated way to encourage them to participate in transforming our food systems.
The Commission will ensure that the strategy is implemented in close coherence with the other elements of the Green Deal, particularly the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the new CEAP and the Zero Pollution ambition. It will monitor the transition to a sustainable food system so that it operates within planetary boundaries, including progress on the targets and overall reduction of the environmental and climate footprint of the EU food system. It will collect data regularly, including on the basis of Earth observation for a comprehensive assessment of the cumulative impact of all actions in this strategy on competitiveness, the environment and health.. It will review this strategy by mid-2023 to assess whether the action taken is sufficient to achieve the objectives or whether additional action is necessary.
(1) At global level, it is estimated that food and agriculture systems in line with the SDGs would deliver nutritious and affordable food for a growing world population, help restore vital ecosystems and could create new economic value of over EUR 1.8 trillion by 2030. Source: Business & Sustainable Development Commission (2017), Better business, better world.
(2) For example, the average EU farmer currently earns around half of the average worker in the economy as a whole. Source: CAP Context indicator C.26 on Agricultural entrepreneurial income ( https://agridata.ec.europa.eu/Qlik_Downloads/Jobs-Growth-sources.htm ).
(3) Europeans have a high level of awareness of food safety topics. Most frequently reported concerns relate to antibiotics, hormones and steroids in meat, pesticides, environmental pollutants and food additives. Source: Special Eurobarometer (April 2019), Food safety in the EU.
(4) From 543.25 million gigatons of CO2 equivalent in 1990 to 438.99 million gigatons in 2017(Eurostat)
(5) Commission proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 (European Climate Law), COM(2020) 80 final, 2020/0036 (COD).
(6) Eurostat, EU SILC (2018), https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_mdes03&lang=en .
(7) EU FUSIONS (2016). Estimates of European food waste levels.
(8) Eurostat, Obesity rate by body mass index, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sdg_02_10/default/table?lang=en
(9) The ‘food environment’ is the physical, economic, political and socio-cultural context in which consumers engage with the food system to make decisions on acquiring, preparing and consuming food (High‑Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (2017), Nutrition and food systems).
(10) Robust certification rules for carbon removals in agriculture and forestry are the first step to enable payments to farmers and foresters for the carbon sequestration they provide. Member States could use these rules to design CAP payments based on the carbon sequestered; moreover, private companies could also be interested in purchasing such certificates to support climate action, thus providing an additional incentive (on top of CAP payments) to farmers and foresters for carbon sequestration.
(11) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – A new Circular Economy Action Plan For a cleaner and more competitive Europe, COM/2020/98 final.
(12) Each EU Member State will carry out an extensive analysis of its specific needs and then draw up a CAP Strategic Plan setting out how it proposes to target the CAP funding from both ‘pillars’ to meet these needs, in line with the overall EU objectives, setting out which tools it will use, and establishing its own specific targets.
(13) These are plant protection products containing active substances that meet the cut-off criteria as set out in points 3.6.2. to 3.6.5 and 3.8.2 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 or are identified as candidates for substitution in accordance with the criteria in point 4 of that Annex.
(14) Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 concerning statistics on pesticides (Text with EEA relevance); OJ L 324, 10.12.2009, p. 1
(15) The use of nitrogen in agriculture leads to the emissions of nitrous oxide to the atmosphere. In 2017, N2O emissions from agriculture accounted for 43% of agriculture emissions and 3.9% of total anthropogenic emissions in the EU (EEA (2019), Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990-2017 and Inventory report 2019).
(16) OECD (2019), Accelerating climate action: refocussing policies through a well-being lens.
(17) As indicated in the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the Common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, COM(2018)392, 2018/0216(COD), in full respect of the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions – European Interoperability Framework – Implementation Strategy, COM(2017)134.
(18) EEA (2019), Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990-2017 and Inventory report 2019. These figures do not include CO2 emissions from land use and land use change.
(19) 39.1 million hectares of cereals and oilseeds and 70.7 million hectares of grassland on 161 million hectares of agricultural land (in EU27, Eurostat, 2019)
(20) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – A sustainable Bioeconomy for Europe: Strengthening the connection between economy, society and the environment, COM/2018/673 final.
(21) Cassini et al., (2019) ‘Attributable deaths and disability-adjusted life-years caused by infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the EU and the European Economic Area in 2015: a population-level modelling analysis’, in Lancet Infect Dis. Vol.19, issue 1, pp. 55-56.
(22) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/publications/natural-resources-and-environment
(23) In 2017, CAP subsidies, with the exception of investment support, represent 57% of net farm income in the EU. https://agridata.ec.europa.eu/extensions/DashboardFarmEconomyFocus/DashboardFarmEconomyFocus.html
(24) An evaluation of the CAP shall be carried out to establish the contribution of income support to improving the resilience and sustainability of farming
(25) Commission Staff Working Document Analysis of links between CAP Reform and Green Deal, SWD(2020) 93.
(26) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the State of Play of the Common Fisheries Policy and Consultation on the Fishing Opportunities for 2020, COM(2019) 274 final
(27) Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, and amending Council Regulations (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 1967/2006, (EC) No 1005/2008, and Regulation (EU) No 2016/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards fisheries control, COM/2018/368 final, 2018/0193(COD).
(28) Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ L347, 20.12.2013, p. 671) and Regulation (EU) 2017/2393 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2017 amending Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), (EU) No 1306/2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy, (EU) No 1307/2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy, (EU) No 1308/2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and (EU) No 652/2014 laying down provisions for the management of expenditure relating to the food chain, animal health and animal welfare, and relating to plant health and plant reproductive material (OJ L 350, 29.12.2017, p. 15).
(29) Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1184/2006 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 1)
(30) Directive (EU) No 2019/633 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain (OJ L 111, 25.4.2019, p. 59).
(31) For example, a study on the business case for reducing food loss and waste, carried out on behalf of the Champion 12.3 coalition, found a 14:1 return on investment for companies taking action to reduce food loss and waste. Hanson, C., and P. Mitchell. 2017. The Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste. Washington, DC: Champions 12.3.
(32) Agriculture, forestry and fisheries statistics, 2019 edition, Statistical Books, Eurostat.
(33) Red meat includes beef, pig meat, lamb, and goat meat and all processed meats.
(34) Willett W. et al (2019), ‘Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’, in Lancet, Vol. 393, pp. 447–92.
(35) FAO and WHO (2019), Sustainable healthy diets – guiding principles.
(36) EU Science Hub : https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/health-knowledge-gateway/societal-impacts/burden
(37) At EU level, food waste (all steps of the lifecycle) accounts for at least 227 million tonnes CO2 eq. a year, i.e. about 6% of total EU emissions in 2012 (EU FUSIONS (2016). Estimates of European food waste levels.
(38) Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597 of 3 May 2019 supplementing Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards a common methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of levels of food waste (OJ L 248, 27.9.2019, p. 77).
(39) https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/fs_eu-actions_action_implementation_platform_key_recommendations.pdf
(40) Commission Staff working document – European Research and Innovation for Food and Nutrition Security, SWD 2016/319 and Commission FOOD 2030 High-level Conference background document (2016) – European Research & Innovation for Food & Nutrition Security.
(41) Established as part of the InvestEU programme as laid down in the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the InvestEU Programme, COM(2018) 4439, 2018/0229 (COD).
(42) Under the European Fund for Strategic Investment, ‘mid-cap companies’ mean entities with a number of employees ranging from 250 up to 3000 and that are not SMEs.
(43) EU taxonomy is an implementation tool that can enable capital markets to identify and respond to investment opportunities that contribute to environmental policy objectives.
(44) In full respect of the European Interoperability Framework, including the Farm Sustainability tool for nutrients as included in the proposal for the CAP beyond 2020.
(45) Commission Communication “Working together to strengthen human capital, employability and competitiveness”, COM/2016/0381 final
(46) E.g. the Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DESIRA) initiative.
(47) Through the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements and our cooperation with third countries on IUU and on sustainable value chains in fisheries and aquaculture; cooperation is particularly relevant with countries affected by climate change.
(48) These substances may have an impact on human health and include substances classified as: mutagenic, carcinogenic, toxic for reproduction or having endocrine disrupting properties as set out in points 3.6.2. to 3.6.5 and 3.8.2 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.