GM thresholds
The EU Commission earlier this year promised that a 'technical solution' would be found to the ever increasing problem of not having a threshold for non-EU approved GM. However the Commission has not met its deadline of summer 2008, current reports suggest that we won't see one until early 2009. The UFU Brussels office will be highlighting the need to find a quick solution to the Commission.
Bluetongue resurgent in France
France has seen a resurgence of BT 8 with over 1300 confirmed cases of new (2008) virus circulation in the last month. This is in spite of the introduction of a limited vaccination campaign, which prioritises sheep and bovines for export. The new cases are concentrated along the front edge of last year's outbreak and show the dangers of an incomplete or partial vaccination strategy.
Country of origin labelling
The Commission has announced that if consumers are being misled then it will give approval to Member States to establish legislation on origin labelling. It clarified that this should not be seen as a protectionism measure but only if the lack of labelling is misleading consumers. The Commission currently has two applications from Ireland and Italy under consideration. The UFU is continuing to press for country of origin labelling legislation in Northern Ireland to apply to the food service sector.
France eyes up CAP future
Ahead of the summer break, the French government circulated a 6 page memorandum to EU Member States setting out a number of thoughts on the long-term evolution of the CAP. France, which chairs the current 6-month Presidency of the EU, has made clear its ambitions to start debate on the distant future of the CAP at the same time as it presides over negotiations on the Health Check. It has scheduled an informal meeting of Agriculture Ministers for 21-23 September and the paper is designed to stimulate debate ahead of this meeting. The memo sets out a number of challenges that the CAP must respond to such as market volatility, climate change and regional cohesion. It asks a number of questions about the sustainability of the current model of the CAP inferring that the policy needs to be more adaptable to changing market circumstances and should do more to promote environmentally and economically sustainable practices.