The European Parliament has voted on a number of rules and regulations affecting the EU agriculture sector, including on food packaging, plant protection against pests, and plant and forest reproductive material.
In an attempt to make packaging more sustainable and reduce packaging waste in the EU, MEPs adopted measures which set out targets for member states to reduce, in particular, the amount of plastic packaging waste.
Certain single-use plastic packaging types will be banned from January 1, 2030, including packaging for unprocessed fresh fruit and vegetables, and packaging for foods and beverages filled and consumed in cafés and restaurants.
The European umbrella group of European farm organisations and agricultural co-ops, Copa Cogeca recently raised stark concerns about the rules, saying that it will “aggravate food waste”.
The group believes that the downward trend in the consumption of fruit and vegetables will continue as a result. However, the member states (Council of the EU) still needs to formally approve the agreement before it can enter into force.
Plant and forest reproductive material
MEPs also voted on the parliament’s position on EU rules for plant and forest reproductive material. The European Commission last year proposed to replace the two directives currently in place with regulations.
The proposed regulations aim to improve declining agro-biodiversity by increasing the variety of plant reproductive material on the market, and to increase biodiversity, restore forests, and improve climate adaptation and mitigation.
Plant reproductive material is plant material, for example seeds, cuttings, trees, roots, and tubers. Forest reproductive material refers to seeds, plants and parts of plants of tree species that are used for the development of new forests.
MEPs propose, among other things, to allow farmers to exchange a limited quantity of any type of plant reproductive material, and mandatory co-operation of member states to ensure the supply of forest reproductive material for cross-border areas affected by extreme weather or disasters.
The file will be followed up by the new parliament after the EU elections from June 6-9.
Plant pests
MEPs also gave the green light to revamped rules protecting plants in the EU against pests which it previously agreed on with the council. Last year, the commission submitted a revision of the Plant Health Law to make it more effective and easier to apply.
The regulation now also needs to be formally endorsed by the council, signed and published in the EU Official Journal. It will then enter into force 20 days later.
The obligation for importers to declare in a phytosanitary certificate which measures they have taken to ensure compliance with rules for the quarantine of regulated non-quarantine pests will apply after 18 months.
Pests for which the adoption of measures is necessary to prevent their introduction into and spread within the entire EU territory are referred to in the law as “quarantine pests”. “Regulated non-quarantine pests” are pests already present in the EU.
EU countries will have to establish new multi-annual programmes for risk-based surveys that ensure timely detection of dangerous pests every five to ten years and review and update the programmes.
Importers to the EU will be obliged to declare in a phytosanitary certificate which measures they have taken to ensure compliance with rules for quarantine pests as well as for regulated non-quarantine pests.
CAP review
The review of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) proposed by the commission has been adopted by the vast majority of MEPs. Welcoming the outcome of the vote, Fine Gael MEP, Sean Kelly said “it should be the first step in a journey that needs to continue”.
He said that the vote “underscores the imperative need for alignment” between the parliament and the council which, he said, was needed “in order for this package to apply for the current year”.
“Removing needless bureaucracy needs to happen immediately and fast-tracking this legislative package is vital for farmers,” the MEP said and added that “a bit of common sense” needs to be brought to EU policy.