Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC), gepubliceerd op donderdag 17 december 2020.
Voor 2021 is in totaal 182,9 miljoen euro uitgetrokken voor de promotie van EU-landbouwproducten binnen en buiten de EU. In dit werkprogramma voor het afzetbevorderingsbeleid gaat speciale aandacht uit naar de promotie van producten en landbouwmethoden die meer rechtstreeks aansluiten op de doelstellingen van de Europese Green Deal: biologische producten, groenten en fruit en duurzame landbouw krijgen dus prioriteit.
Het EU-beleid voor de afzetbevordering van agrovoedingsproducten is erop gericht het concurrentievermogen van de sector te vergroten door te profiteren van de groeiende mondiale agrovoedingsmarkt en meer bekendheid te geven aan de strenge normen die de EU-landbouw hanteert, onder meer wat kwaliteit en duurzaamheid betreft. Zoals voorgesteld in de “van boer tot bord”-strategie wordt volgend jaar een nieuw kader voor het afzetbevorderingsbeleid ingevoerd.
EU agricultural ministers have given the green light to an EU-wide animal welfare labelling system, although plans for front of pack nutrition and origin labelling have been shelved for the moment.
The approval of conclusions on an EU-wide animal welfare label, taken during the last Agrifish Council of the German presidency on Tuesday (15 December), paves the way for the European Commission to submit a proposal for a harmonised label on food produced under animal welfare standards higher than those in EU legislation.
Through the conclusions, ministers also agreed to gradually include all livestock species in the label over the entire course of their lifetime, including transport and slaughter, and ensure smooth interplay with existing labelling.
As the UK prepares to ban the live export of animals, the debate over the practice is also gaining traction in the EU, although the bloc is unlikely to follow suit any time soon, according to MEP Tilly Metz.
The UK’s environment secretary, George Eustice, unveiled plans to ban the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening from England and Wales earlier this month, which would make them the first in Europe to end this practice.
This is something the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said was part of a renewed push to strengthen Britain’s position as a world leader on animal welfare, positioning the plan to diverge from the EU stance on the matter as a Brexit success story.
Roadmap points to the end of Irish agricultural expansion
Farmers can expect measures to control the number of animals and management of their manure
Organic production is the main new expansion frontier in Irish farming, with an effective cap on livestock numbers, and use of nitrogen fertiliser to reduce by 20%.
Wed, 16 Dec, 2020 - 10:37
Could Brexit halt the progress of Irish agriculture? It could, but it doesn’t matter, because climate action is going to do that anyway.
“Any increase in biogenic methane emissions from continually increasing livestock numbers will put the achievement of this target in doubt,” said the Government last week, as it set out its Ag Climatise plan for a climate-neutral agriculture by 2050, starting with a 20% reduction in nitrogen fertiliser use by 2030. With 350,000 hectares of organic farming by 2030 also in the plan (compared to 74,000 ha now); an effective cap on livestock numbers; and a one-fifth cut in the nitrogen fertilisation which p