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On 18 October 2022, the European Parliament's rapporteur put forward a draft report on the Commission's proposal for a regulation on geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, while the discussions continue in the Council on the working party level. The proposal, which the Commission adopted on 31 March 2022, would bring under a single legal document the provisions on the procedures for registering geographical indications (GIs) for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural ...

By 2050, an estimated two thirds of the world population will live in urban areas. Could vertical farming help feed this growing urban population sustainably by reducing the demand for agricultural land and shortening the travel distance between food production and consumption?

Male chicks are considered a by-product in the laying hen sector. For that reason, millions of day-old male chicks are killed every year in hatcheries in the European Union by means of maceration or gasification. The problem was highlighted during a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in October 2022, with some Member States calling for a ban on these practices. The European Commission responded positively to the call and has committed to carry out an impact assessment with a view to ...

The impact assessment (IA) examines the nature and scale of the problem. It substantiates the findings with references to: the evaluation of current rules, which was carried out in parallel with the IA; further analysis by the European Commission; publicly available studies; and stakeholder input. The problems and problem drivers are discussed in detail, and the IA analyses how the problems would evolve without further action. However, information about the evolution of the problem appears to focus ...

World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October to promote awareness and action in support of those who suffer from hunger. Worryingly, estimates reveal that a growing number of people – between 702 million and 828 million (around 10 % of the world's population) – faced hunger in 2021.In the EU, nearly 39 million people cannot afford a quality meal every second day, while estimates show that each person wastes on average between 173 kg and 343 kg of food a year. NGOs argue that in 2021, the ...

In 2020, there were over 76 million cattle in the European Union (EU) and beef production reached 6.8 million tonnes – output that makes the EU the world's third largest producer, after the United States and Brazil. The sector is diverse in terms of herd size, farm structure and geographical distribution of farms between EU regions. Beef is an important element of most European diets, and it is the third most widely consumed meat in the world. EU beef, together with other EU food products, is known ...

This briefing provides an initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's impact assessment (IA) accompanying the above-mentioned proposal, submitted on 31 March 2022 and referred to the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI). Geographical indications (GIs) are names that identify products having characteristics or reputation linked to their geographical origin and notably to the natural or human factors in that place of origin. GIs ...

This At a glance note summarises the study presenting the concepts and methods of farm certification schemes and provides information on the main existing schemes in the EU and in third countries. It analyses how these schemes can help the EU reach its sustainability objectives in the farming sector and be instrumental in the implementation and monitoring of the related CAP instruments during the upcoming programming period.

Genome editing is the targeted alteration of a few DNA letters within the existing genetic blueprint of an organism. By far the most widely used genome-editing tool is CRISPR-Cas. CRISPR-Cas genome-editing technology can be applied in a number of different ways. The genetic changes that are introduced by means of the SDN1 and SDN2 types of CRISPR-Cas technology do not differ from changes that can occur naturally or result from conventional breeding. While CRISPR-Cas technology is highly accurate, ...

Demographic, socio-political and economic pressures have made eating meat an unsustainable practice for the long term. However, meat substitutes have proved unpopular, owing to social norms and a lack of trust; some alternatives also contribute heavily to climate change. Could microbial protein be a sustainable alternative to meat that not only solves these multidimensional pressures but also contributes actively to reversing climate change?