EU: packaging and plant protection proposals

A radical change in the approach of the legislative proposals on the reduction of the use of plant protection products and new packaging standards. This is what the fruit and vegetable cooperatives of France, Italy, and Spain demanded during a well-attended meeting at the European Parliament on 6 June, promoted and organized by French MEP Irene Tolleret. 
 

They then reiterated their clear negative judgment on the regulatory proposals presented by the European Commission stemming from the Farm to Fork strategy, starting with the new ban on the use of packaging for packages of less than 1.5 kg, defined as "arbitrary, disproportionate and discriminatory."

The cooperatives showed, with concrete evidence based on their own experience, that packaging continues to be fundamental in bringing perishable products such as fruit and vegetables to market, meeting consumer expectations in terms of quality, safety, and price. Packaging also fulfils a number of functions ranging from protecting the product from damage to prolonging shelf life and providing consumers with correct information on the production method, country, or region of origin. The new rules also contradict other objectives considered strategic by the Commission itself, such as reducing food waste, promoting the consumption of fruit and vegetables as the basis of a healthy diet, and boosting fruit and vegetables value and differentiation. That is why cooperatives have been asking for an EU common regulation based on a scientific basis instead of on perception and oriented towards reduction, rationalization, and better management of packaging and not towards a drastic ban punishing unfairly the F&V sector.

Regarding the 50% reduction in the use of plant protection products, this is "unrealistic and not feasible at the economic level, because it is not based on any scientific data and does not take into account the efforts already made, nor the various impact studies that all converge in predicting an inevitable drop in production."

It is, therefore, necessary for Europe to abandon its "punitive and bureaucratic strategy" and aim instead at safeguarding "a competitive European agriculture and the food sovereignty of its consumers, avoiding imports from less sustainable third countries."

What are European cooperatives asking for? Firstly, longer timeframes that go well beyond the 2030 timeframe, the carrying out of adequate and complete impact studies, and the effective availability of alternative tools that science and research will be able to make available to the sector, along with new technologies (new genomic techniques, drone application, more resistant varieties, etc.).

Secondly, the Commission should avoid the entrance to the EU of any fruit and vegetable product coming from a country where it is allowed to use phytosanitary products that are banned in the EU and put in practice "the reciprocity principle" through an ad hoc regulation.

The cooperatives also took the opportunity of the meeting to remind the European Parliament of the difficult moment the agricultural and fruit and vegetable sector is currently going through, under stress due to climatic events (frost in 2022, drought and floods in 2023), market imbalances and increased production costs as a consequence of the various geopolitical or health crises that have affected the EU (Brexit, Ukraine War, post-Covid), factors that negatively affect the income of farmers and their cooperatives.

Given the precise situation of the sector and markets, the Commission "should refrain from introducing excessive EU policies that end up generating additional costs."

Through their spokesperson Jean Michel Delannoy (FELCOOP), Davide Vernocchi (Alleanza Cooperative Italiane F&V sector), and José Manuel Fernandez (Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España), the cooperatives expressed their hope that the European Parliament's Environment Committee in charge of the two dossiers will consider the demands expressed in the expected Comagri opinions.

Some complementary data
Crop protection product sales up again in Europe in 2021
In 2021, total European sales of crop protection products represented 355 million kilos of active ingredient.
From 2014 to 2016, about 370 million kilograms of crop protection products were sold per year in the European Union (EU-27). Since then, that fell to 333 million kilograms in 2019 but increased again to 346 million kilograms in 2020. In 2021, it climbed a further three percent to 355 million kilograms.

Of the countries that made their data public in 2021, Spain sold the most plant protection product in the EU, with over 21%. France (20%), Italy, and Germany (both 14%) followed. These four countries make up 57% of total EU sales. So, since these countries took up slightly more than half (51%) of Europe's agricultural land, they sold rather sizeable quantities of crop protection products.
This CBS (Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics) chart shows crop protection sales in the EU-27 in 2021.