Food Law News - EU - 2018

Council Minutes, 16 April 2018

FOOD WASTE – Council discussions on the reduction of food waste

The following is an extract from the minutes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting held on the 16 April 2018

The Council exchanged views on ways to further reduce food waste in the EU

In particular, they took stock of the progress made in the implementation of the June 2016 Council conclusions on food losses and food waste. The conclusions called on the member states and the Commission to assess the progress made on the implementation of these conclusions periodically, starting in 2018.

The debate was structured around two questions set out in a presidency background document [LINK], which contained a summary of actions and projects undertaken by the member states and the Commission in the fight against food waste. The questions were:

- How do you assess the progress made at EU level and at national level regarding the 2016 Council decisions?

- Do you think that the pace is sufficient or further actions are still needed to obtain the necessary speed to meet the commitments to reduce food losses and food waste?

During the debate ministers confirmed their commitment to achieving SDG target 12.3 on halving food waste by 2030 and to implementing the 2016 Council conclusions. They were of the view that considerable progress had been made on the implementation of the 2016 Council conclusions both by the member states and the Commission, but further actions were needed in order to meet the commitments to reduce food losses and food waste.

In particular they said that progress had been made at national level, for example on national programmes, legislation and awareness-raising. At EU level, work carried out by the Commission on the EU Platform on food losses and food waste was recognised as important.

Many ministers were of the view that progress at national and EU level should also continue on other aspects, such as a common measurement methodology, the collection of comparable data, labelling, incentives, new technologies, research and innovation. The entire food chain should be covered, involving all stakeholders along the chain. The new programming period and the future CAP could present an opportunity to enhance prevention of food losses and food waste.

The 2016 Council conclusions on food losses and food waste [LINK] put emphasis on a number of actions aimed at decreasing the amount of food loss and food waste such as: raising awareness among the population, the development of common methods to measure food loss and food waste and widening the list of foods exempt from “best before” labelling.

In line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, the EU is committed to reach the objective of halving food waste by 2030 along production and supply chains.

In the European Union, food losses and food waste are tackled under the EU action plan for the circular economy [LINK], which was launched in 2015 with the objective of promoting the use of resources in a more sustainable way.