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The European Commission's Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy came under
attack from the US last week (July 29) when US Department of
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue criticized the strategy for
undermining future trade and productivity.
The Commission's F2F Strategy, which aspires to reduce harmful
pesticides by 50%, and limit unsustainable agri-food products, was
described by Perdue as "extremely trade-prohibitive" and threatens
to "jeopardise agricultural output" during a webinar hosted by the
European Parliament's Conservative and Reformist (ECR) party
group
On the same day, another transatlantic debate was causing a stir
when a bipartisan group of US legislators called upon US Trade
Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to remove retaliatory
duties on food and drink imports from the EU.
In a letter sent to Lighthizer on July 29, the lawmakers called
for a "targeted approach" to meting out sanctions on EU exports
because of an ongoing civil aircraft dispute involving aerospace
giant Airbus before the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The lawmakers argued that the USTR should remove duties on food
and drink products "as that industry is struggling during the
current pandemic."
The US Senate Finance Committee also engaged in trade debate on
July 29 where discussion centred around the need to keep the World
Trade Organization (WTO) as an active and vital operation in the
years ahead.
The US had typically done well in cases at the WTO relative to
agriculture, according to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck
Grassley (R-Iowa), in particular as the world trade body has helped
limit protectionism and taken action on market access. However, he
expressed frustration at the WTO allowing China, the second largest
economy in the world, and India, an emerging economic power, to
claim developing nation status.
In the UK, lawmakers there called for the appointment of a
Minister for Food Security after the COVID outbreak revealed how
fragile the food system was.
In a report issued on Thursday (July 30), the Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs Committee found that the pandemic exacerbated
food insecurity for millions of people, with the use of UK food
banks almost doubling during lockdown, and a significant spike in
demand from people with children.
In Germany, the labour minister announced plans to change the
rules around slaughterhouse work. It follows outbreaks of COVID at
plants that revealed the poor state of working conditions at some
abbatoir operations.
In France, the Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational
Health & Safety (ANSES) advised the European Commission to set
strict EU limits on the carcinogenic heavy metal, cadmium, in
edible seaweed used in foods such as Japanese makis and the Welsh
delicacy, laverbread, as well as supplements.
ANSES spoke out after test results showed almost a quarter of
edible seaweed samples analysed recently had cadmium concentrations
above the maximum level of 0.5 milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) set
by the French High Council for Public Health (CSHPF).
Finally, a United Nations campaign called 'ActNow' which hopes
to spark greater individual action against climate change
worldwide, caused controversy after it called for lower meat
consumption.
In a tweet, the UN said the "meat industry is responsible for
more greenhouse gas emissions than the world's biggest oil
companies" and called on people to consume less animal products to
prevent climate change, water depletion and deforestation.
The social media post sparked a debate among livestock
stakeholders. One of the most critical voices came from Professor
Frédéric Leroy from the Belgian Association of Meat Science and
Technology, who said the claims being made by the UN's main social
media account were "blatantly false".
