EU ambassadors this week signed an agreement with Latin American and U.S. officials to end “a 15-year dispute over EU banana imports,” according to a December 15, 2009, press release, which described the impasse as “the longest trade dispute in history.” The European Union has apparently agreed to “gradually cut its import tariff on bananas from Latin America from €176 per tonne to €114,” in addition to providing €200 million to African and Caribbean banana-exporting countries “to help them adjust to stiffer competition from Latin America.” In return, Latin American countries will “not demand further cuts” and the United States has consented to drop its World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint against Europe’s banana importation practices. “This dispute on bananas has soured global trade relations for too long,” stated EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, who noted that the accord was “well-balanced” and likely to further European objectives…
Category Archives Europe
The last phase of the European Union’s (EU) food origin legislation takes effect January 1, 2010, requiring slaughterhouse operators and livestock keepers to provide Food Chain Information (FCI) for all cattle, sheep and goats sent to slaughter for human consumption. According to UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA), FCI includes data about the “health of the animals being sent for slaughter, and other information relevant to the safety of meat derived from them, including medicines the animals have been given.” The rules already apply to other species such as pigs and calves. FSA urged slaughterhouse operators, markets and livestock keepers to prepare for the changes now because once the new rules are enforced, meat from cattle, sheep or goats without FCI information will not be passed for human consumption. “The new rules are an important part of ‘farm-to-fork’ food safety controls and highlight the food safety responsibilities of livestock keepers in…
The European Union has reportedly granted Neapolitan pizza a status of “traditional speciality [sic] guaranteed” (TSG), a premium labeling designation that “does not refer to an origin, but highlights the traditional composition or means of production.” According to media sources, the Italian government has successfully persuaded EU member states to approve their application stipulating that pizza napoletana—also known as pizza margherita—must be hand-kneaded and cooked in a wood-fired oven, use mozzarella from the southern Apennine Mountains, and contain specific kinds of flour, yeast, salt, and tomatoes. In addition, the pie must apparently feature an elevated crust rim of 1-2 centimeters (cm), a base that does not exceed 1/3 cm in thickness and a diameter less than 35 cm. While EU restaurants will still be able to proffer their versions of pizza napoletana, only products meeting these exact requirements can boast the coveted TSG logo. The Italian agriculture ministry has since noted…
The European Chemicals Agency (EHCA) has announced that in January 2010 its Member State Committee will add acrylamide to the European Union’s Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHC). The chemical by-product of high-temperature cooking processes has been linked to cancer in laboratory rats. According to ECHA, the Candidate List represents the first step in the authorization procedure to include SVCHs in Annex XIV of the REACH Regulation, after which time “they cannot be placed on the market or used after a date to be set (the so-called ‘sunset date’) unless the company is granted an authorization.” In addition to 14 other substances, the agency has proposed listing acrylamide as a category two carcinogen and a category two mutagen, but “decisions on the need to subject these substances to authorization will be taken later.”
An end to the world’s longest-running trade dispute is reportedly drawing near. The European Union (EU), which purportedly started the “banana wars” by imposing higher duties on tropical fruits from Latin America in the early 1990s to favor former British and French colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions, is apparently poised to enter an agreement that would reduce its banana tariffs over the next seven years thus putting growers around the world on an equal footing. The United States is also apparently expected to adopt the same terms, so shoppers could soon be facing lower prices for tropical fruits and for dozens of other tropical products if the proposed settlement provides a boost to the upcoming Doha round of world trade negotiations. See The New York Times, November 17, 2009.
The European Union has reportedly blocked a U.S. request that the World Trade Organization (WTO) settle a dispute over a ban on American poultry imports. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative apparently asked for the ruling after industry groups criticized the scientific evidence behind an EU regulation prohibiting the pathogen-reduction treatments used in U.S. poultry processing. According to the National Chicken Council, U.S. poultry exports could exceed $300 million if EU regulators permitted the in-plant use of chlorine dioxide, trisodium phosphate, acidified sodium chlorite and peracetic acid in products destined for the European market. The European Union cannot block a second request, which is apparently expected in November. See Bloomberg.com, October 23, 2009; Meatingplace.com, October 26, 2009.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has reportedly announced €280 million ($417 million) in additional subsidies to dairy farmers affected by plummeting agricultural prices. Intended to appease vocal protesters and agricultural lobbies, the aid responded to requests from 21 member states, including France and Germany, despite objections from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In addition, the European Union has agreed to cap milk production, although it stopped short of creating a pan-European institution to regulate the market. “We hope that we can stabilize the market with the proposals that we have today,” Swedish Farm Minister Eskil Erlandsson was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, the European Milk Board has welcomed the subsidies and production limits but noted that farmers have already lost €15 billion ($22 billion) in the current economic crisis. “That shows that 280 million euros won’t get us far,” the board president told reporters. See The Canadian Press, Daily…
The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority has reportedly banned an advertising campaign launched by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), fearing that it would cause some readers to infer that eating meat causes swine flu. The ad stated in bold letters “Meat Kills: Go Vegetarian” and contained repeating background lines of text that said, “E. Coli, Mad Cow, Swine Flu, MRSA.” The “Swine Flu” font was highlighted and made the disease more prominent. The advertising authority apparently determined that the ad was spreading “undue fear and distress” about swine flu. Other PETA ads have also reportedly caused controversy in Great Britain. See MarketingWeek.co.uk, October 14, 2009.
The Irish government reportedly plans to prohibit the cultivation of all genetically modified (GM) crops and will introduce a voluntary GM-free label for meat, poultry, eggs, fish, crustaceans, and dairy products made without the use of GM animal feed. Echoing a similar move by Germany, the policy specifies that the government will “declare the Republic of Ireland a GM-Free Zone, free from the cultivation of all GM plants,” according to a press release, which called the policy “a new dawn for Irish farmers and food producers.” The GM-crop ban and voluntary GM-free label “makes obvious business sense for our agri-food and eco-tourism sectors,” said a spokesperson for GM-Free Ireland, a multi-stakeholder network of social, political and legal-action groups. “Everyone knows that U.S. and EU consumers, food brands and retailers want safe GM-free food, and Ireland is ideally positioned to deliver the safest, most credible GM-free food ban in Europe, if…
The National Chicken Council and several other industry groups have signed a letter to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, requesting the initiation of a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel to re-establish poultry exports to Europe. According to the letter, the European Union prohibits four antimicrobials commonly applied in the United States to reduce pathogens on processed poultry. The trade groups have reportedly estimated that U.S. poultry exports could exceed $300 million if EU regulators permitted the in plant use of chlorine dioxide, trisodium phosphate, acidified sodium chlorite and peracetic acid in products destined for the European market. “[T]he United States should continue to pursue with the European Union resolution of the issue,” stated the letter, which concluded that “it would be most appropriate to take the issue to the next step in the WTO dispute settlement process.” See NCC News Release, October 1, 2009; Law360, October 2,…
