| European Parliament approves farmer-backed amendments on trade benefits for Ukraine. MEPs on Wednesday adopted changes to the regulation prolonging trade liberalisation with Kyiv, adding further safeguard measures demanded by the agriculture sector. The European Parliament added honey and cereals to the list of sensitive imports for which an emergency brake will be applied if a threshold is exceeded and changed the baseline for calculating maximum volumes from the 2022-2023 average to 2021-2023, including a pre-war situation. Based on this approved text, the Parliament will enter negotiations with the Council – in effect stretching the timeline for a final decision. The first inter-institutional meeting will take place next Tuesday evening. MEPs call for a ban on Russian grain imports. Most political groups in the European Parliament on Tuesday voiced support for a total ban on imports of Russian agri-food products into the EU. The bloc has intentionally spared food and fertilisers from its wartime sanctions against Moscow to preserve global food security, but there is growing demand among EU lawmakers and member states to impose restrictions on such imports. European Commissioner Ylva Johansson told MEPs that trade flows from Russia and Belarus were being “closely monitored” and also warned that sanctions could lead to higher prices for importing countries in the Global South. European Parliament backs compromise on new livestock farming emissions rules. MEPs on Tuesday rubber-stamped a revised version of the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), extending rules for clean air and water to more pig and poultry farms. In a close vote, right-wing lawmakers tried but failed to reopen the compromise agreement reached by the Parliament and the Council last November, which has been heavily criticised by the EU’s agricultural sector for targeting “family farms”. Parliament committee seeks timeline for EU countries to improve soil health. The European Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) on Monday adopted a draft report on the EU’s first soil law, including a requirement for member states to improve the ecological status of their soils within six to ten years. The move constitutes a first step towards the EU’s goal to achieve healthy soils by 2050. European Commission adopts new measures for better water quality. The EU executive presented on Monday two new measures to improve water quality, including setting up a standard methodology for measuring microplastics in water and ensuring that the re-use of wastewater for agricultural irrigation is safe. EU reintroduces tariffs on long grain rice from Myanmar and Cambodia. The European Commission on Monday reintroduced tariff duties on imports of indica rice from Cambodia and Myanmar for three years, claiming that volumes and prices at which the product has been imported have caused “serious difficulties” for EU rice producers. | 
