EU Marketing Standards for Agricultural Products, Consultation

The European Commission has opened a consultation on the EU marketing standards for agricultural products.
 
This initiative aims to update the EU marketing standards 1) to encourage the supply of more sustainable products to consumers; 2) to simplify current legislation, which uses several legal instruments, and 3) to align EU rules with requirements under the Lisbon Treaty.
 
The Commission is welcoming feedback for the Inception Impact Assessment, which aims to inform citizens and stakeholders about the Commission's plans in order to allow them to provide feedback on the intended initiative and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to make available any relevant information that they may have, including on possible impacts of the different options.
 
The options for a revision of EU marketing standards for agricultural products are:
  1. Eliminate the EU’s agricultural marketing standards (so they can be replaced by international, national or private standards if and where needed).
  2. Do not revise the substance of the current marketing standards but align the existing legislation with the procedural requirements of the Lisbon Treaty.
  3. Revise the current marketing standards to modernize them (e.g. to take into account technological change and new production methods), increase their contribution to the sustainability of the food system, align the rules with the requirements of the Lisbon Treaty, and simplify existing legislation by consolidating rules on marketing standards in fewer regulations.
  4. As (3) and introduce new marketing standards for agricultural products where such rules can help standardize the quality of agricultural products or contribute to the sustainability of the food system.
  5. As (3) and introduce marketing standards for all agricultural products.
 
The consultation is open until February 16, 2021. The adoption of a new directive is planned for the second quarter of 2022.
 
Consultation

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