Wed 16 October 2024| View online Estimated reading time: 4-5 minutes |
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Hello
Welcome to your daily Agrifood Pro Briefing. Today we mark the UN's World Food Day with insights on hunger, plus nervousness over a possible new wave of farmer protests, another episode in the plant patents saga, and more.
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Commission cautious on sales below costs for farmers |
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The EU executive wants to prevent farmers being forced to sell their food below the cost of production, but "how to do that is rather challenging," Pierre Bascou, deputy director-general of the Commission’s DG AGRI, said yesterday (15 October) at the Fertilizers Europe conference.Â
When asked about the feasibility of banning below-cost selling – a measure adopted by some member states and advocated by farmer worker organisations – Bascou warned that such a move would affect the whole food chain and risk "undermining the competitiveness of the sector". Â
“Production costs are different from farm to farm, across sectors, regions,” he said, adding that the EU executive was looking into whether such bans work at national level.Â
In March, responding to the wave of farmer protests that swept the bloc, the Commission promised to evaluate the Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) directive in 2025 and propose legislative changes if necessary.  Â
In July, the EU executive also launched the Agrifood Chain Observatory (AFCO), which held its second meeting yesterday. Items on the agenda included a presentation from France’s own food chain observatory, and the analysis of case studies from the organic sector in the Netherlands and Ukraine. |
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Hunger weaponisation in conflicts on the rise, warns Oxfam |
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A new Oxfam report published on World Food Day (16 October) has found that most of the 281.6 million people facing acute hunger in 2023 live in 54 conflict-affected countries examined. “In 2023, crisis-level acute food insecurity reached an all-time high, with violent conflict a key driver,” says the study, which estimates that between 7,784 and 21,406 deaths per day were caused by conflict-induced food insecurity. Â
The NGO warns that warring parties are actively weaponising food by targeting key infrastructure in the sector and blocking food aid.  Among the countries surveyed was Ukraine, where the report found that 7.3 million people faced acute food insecurity last year. |
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Farmer protests: Act II? French tractors to gather in Toulouse |
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This evening, at around 21:00, French farmers will gather in Toulouse, in the south-west of the country, for a major demonstration called by the departmental branch of the FNSEA and the Young Farmers (JA). Â
It was here, in the "pink city", that the French demonstrations began almost a year ago, on 22 November, before the anger spread to Germany in December and then to the rest of Europe. Â Other signs of nervousness are coming from farmers in other EU countries.
Hugo will have more more details in the morning. |
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Europe’s regions fear centralised management of agri, regi funds |
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As the EU debates a new budget model that would merge regional and agricultural funds under national management, European regions are calling for simplification at local level rather than national centralisation.
Hugo looked at how EU regions are managing to integrate agricultural and regional funding on the ground. Â Â |
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Patent office rejects challenge to patent on cold-tolerant maize |
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The European Patent Office (EPO) decided in a hearing yesterday (15 October) to reject the opposition to a patent on cold-tolerant maize, the international coalition No Patents on Seeds, which initiated the case, said in a press release.Â
The coalition argues that the variety in question, patented by German agribusiness giant KWS, was developed through conventional breeding, and that EU breeders should have unrestricted access to it.Â
In 2020, the EPO’s board issued an opinion to bring some clarity to the long-standing saga of the patentability of plants. It stated that European patents could not be granted on plants and animals produced exclusively by means of an essentially biological process.Â
However, the coalition said the EPO yesterday invoked a clause stating that the ban only applies to patent applications filed after 1 July 2017, and upheld KWS’s patent as it was requested in 2016. |
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Commission launches working group on biofuel import fraud |
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After Ireland raised the issue of the EU imports of potentially fraudulently labelled as sustainable biofuels at yesterday’s (15 October) Energy Council, the Commission announced the launch of a working group to look into the matter.Â
The Irish delegation presented a note saying that the EU’s consumption of palm oil mill effluent (POME) biofuels - which are made from waste from palm oil production and are considered more sustainable under the bloc’s rules–, appears disproportionately high when compared to the amount of POME that realistically be produced globally. Â
Dublin’s move was backed by France, Germany, and the Netherlands, which at another Council meeting in May urged the EU executive to step up controls on another biofuel fraud: vegetable oils (such as palm oil) mislabelled as used cooking oil (UCO). Â
Speaking at the Council, Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said the new working group launched by the EU executive would operate under the committee on the sustainability of biofuels, bio-liquids and biomass fuels. |
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CBAM is for competitiveness, says Commission |
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The long-term competitiveness of the EU fertiliser industry is "through the decarbonisation pathway", including the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), according to Alexandre Paquot, director for innovation at the European Commission's DG Climate.
Speaking at the Fertilizers Europe conference yesterday (15 October), and responding to the sector concerns about the impact of pricing emissions associated with fertilisers produced outside the EU, Paquot stressed that the CBAM was not designed to solve challenges such as a higher gas price, but to accompany the sector's decarbonisation pathway towards new energy sources such as green hydrogen.
"Let’s be real, [CBAM] will address the carbon price (...) but one cannot think that it is the solution to all issues," he said. The CBAM is due to be fully implemented in 2026. It aims to bring the carbon cost of imported products, such as fertilisers, into line with that borne by EU industry under the ETS. |
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Over 200 NGOs call for no delay in EUDR implementation |
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Member states and the European Parliament should reject a Commission proposal to delay implementation of EU anti-deforestation rules for one year, 225 NGOs from around the world urged yesterday.
EU countries are expected to endorse the proposal at today’s CoRePer I meeting, but the #Together4Forests NGOs are determined to continue collecting signatures on the statement Hands off the EU deforestation regulation in the coming weeks to put pressure on MEPs ahead the Parliament vote, expected in November. |
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Berlin – State Secretary Bender opens 10th German-Chinese Agricultural WeekÂ
The State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Silvia Bender, will travel to the People's Republic of China from 16 to 22 October on the occasion of the 10th German-Chinese Agricultural Week. During her visit, Bender will hold talks with her counterparts from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Chinese Customs Administration.Â
Dublin – Irish fishermen want sanctions against Norway The Irish Fish Producers' Organisation (IFPO) yesterday called on the Commission to impose sanctions on Norway for overfishing and reducing the EU’s mackerel quota. Ireland has already lost 26% of its quota since the Brexit, according to the association, which is urging "a complete ban to stop Norwegian access to Irish waters". This confrontation is part of a wider dispute between the EU and Norway over fishing opportunities. A final agreement must be reached by December 2024. |
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Today’s brief was brought to you by Euractiv’s Agrifood team |
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Today’s briefing was prepared by the Agrifood team; Angelo Di Mambro, Maria Simon Arboleas, Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro, and Hugo Struna. Share your feedback or information with us at digital@euractiv.com. |
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