European Union

  • EU food procurement to reward sustainability

    EU food procurement to reward sustainability

    Food has been recognised as a priority sector in a new EU regulation designed to modernise and simplify the bloc’s public procurement framework, as well as reward environmental, ethical and social qualities rather than just prioritise cost

  • TTIP vote derailed by massive public petitioning

    CAMPAIGNERS ARE celebrating after a planned vote at the European Union on the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was postponed on Weds, 10 June.                     Food safety is a…

  • Is the time ripe for GM crops

    EUROPE IS ploughing a lone furrow free of genetically modified foods, but are politicians to blame and do consumers deserve a choice?               In 2003 Farmers Weekly ran a cover story and five-page analysis…

  • Foie Gras producer arrested for animal cruelty

    A FOIE GRAS producer has been arrested in France, charged with animal cruelty in a landmark case which could open the floodgates for similar trials to proceed.                     The Ernest Soulard…

  • Glass recycling rate passes 70% mark

    LATEST GLASS recycling figures for the EU show also there is now far more glass recycled than ever before. Since the 1990s, recycling rates for glass have increased by a whopping 131% in Europe. Using recycled glass replaces virgin raw…

  • New rules for pig meat inspection

    THE FOOD Standards Agency has started a six-week consultation on new rules for pig meat inspections which will come into force from June 2014.                     The new rules are set to…

  • Groceries code adjudicator outlines powers

    FARMERS HAVE welcomed the new Groceries Code Adjudicator’s (GCA) powers to investigate, enforce and penalise supermarkets suspected of breaching the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCoP – Code).               The new GCA Christine Tacon…

  • Ban on Union Flag meat label ‘not true’

    THE EUROPEAN Commission has issued a correction statement following in accurate reports of an EU plan to ban the Union Flag from British meat products.   A number of UK national newspapers reported that the EU would ban use of the widely…

  • No return for the mack?

    FEARS OF overfishing may put mackerel’s comeback on hold as customers face a tough choice between eating healthily and sustainably.   What a difference two years make. This time in 2011, mackerel was riding on the crest of a wave…

  • Reform for European fisheries policy

    THE EUROPEAN Parliament today voted to back a major reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The new proposals aim to cut fishing to sustainable stock levels, end dumping at sea (discards), and base long-term planning on sound scientific…