Concerns that bird flu may return to ravage the poultry industry
and humans have prompted the EU to invest €28m in new research to
better spot and control outbreaks.
Closures, restructuring. mergers and the offshoring of production
are continuing to change the profile of the EU's food manufacturing
sector, according to a report from an European Commission agency.
The UK's food and farming minister has revealed how almost £500
million of additional support for sugar reform will be incorporated
within the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) over the next seven years.
The new European Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation hit an
unexpected barrier to its adoption yesterday, since it was found to
contain the wrong comitology procedure. Rectifying the oversight
could take months and may re-open...
Bluefin tuna has almost been fished out of some of the
Mediterranean’s oldest fishing grounds, according to new data
released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWW), a global conservation
organization.
Further progress is urgently needed to improve the EU's
competitiveness in such areas as innovation, better regulation,
intellectual property rights and fair participation in global
markets, says an industry organisation.
Proposed EU legislation would define the manufacturing practices
the bloc's processors would have to take in ensuring that packaging
materials do not migrate into foods.
Ireland's dairy and ingredients giant, Glanbia, reported a dip in
sales and profits for its first half of 2006, stung by cuts to EU
support for the dairy sector.
With no currently outbreaks of avian influenza being found in the
EU's borders, all restrictions on the movement of farmed birds have
been lifted within the bloc, the European Commission reported
yesterday.
EU broiler production in 2006 is forecast to be four per cent lower
than last year due to the outbreaks of avian influenza (AI), but
looks set to rebound in 2007, according to a new report.
The International Grains Council (IGC) has been forced to lower
grain estimates announced last month as conditions in the worldwide
grain market worsen.
Eastern Europe is spearheading growth in the packaging machinery
industry as new EU states attempt to muscle in on the Western
market, says a new report.
The European market for seabass and seabream is growing at a steady
pace, but is its full potential is being stifled because producers
can't offer value added seabass and seabream products at a
competitive price, says a new report.
A proposed law published for consultation yesterday would bring the
UK's regulatory system into line with EU regulations -- but could
also mean additional costs for processors.
The European Commission today proposed drastic measures to
safeguard cod stocks in the Baltic Sea, which could lead to a
supply problem -- and higher prices -- for processors.
The UK's food regulator has published a draft law for quick-frozen
foodstuffs, amending existing requirements on sampling procedures
and official methods of temperatures analysis.
Food companies and administrative bureaucrats attempting to dodge
the EU's laws better watch out - the bloc's fraud and corruption
watchdog is on their trail.
Scientists at the University of Kent in the UK have
received€800,000 to study ways nanotechnology can improve the
safety and quality ofchilled and frozen foods.
With the EU's fish stocks under threat of depletion, the European
Commission this week said it will propose reducing catches in a bid
to restore supplies to sustainable levels.
Italy's bid to prop up its ailing poultry sector, hit by a drop in
demand due to avian influenza, may have gone too far, the European
Commission said yesterday.
The cost of transporting foods and other products are set to rise
in France and Spain, if the two countries heed an decision against
their discounted road tolls, published yesterday by the European
Commission.
The use of aluminium oxide is an effective and safe method for the
removal of fluoride from natural mineral waters, an EU scientific
body has concluded.
The EU has created a new funding tranche of €3.8bn for the bloc's
fishing industry, giving primary producers, fisheries, aquaculture
businesses, processors and marketers access to financial aid.
Mounting overseas pressure on the EU to rework a draft EU law
requiring the registration and authorisation of chemicals could
foreshadow a battle that seems destined for lengthy arbitration
before the World Trade Organisation.
Hungary has confirmed it has found the avian influenza virus in a
flock of domestic geese, a week after a European Commission report
claimed incidents of bird flu are declining in the EU.
The Netherlands is the best place in Europe for food and drink
processors to locate manufacturing plants, according to a cost
comparison study by KPMG.
Cargill Sweetness Solutions has welcomed the change in EU law
surrounding the sweetener erythritol, saying it will give food and
beverage manufactures across Europe greater flexibility in
developing their products.
Agrana, which claims to be the leading sugar and starch producer in
Central and Eastern Europe, plans to expand its activities towards
the Western Balkans.
Frozen cod fillet prices will remain largely stable in European
markets in the second half of this year, perhaps even decline,
after an upward trend over the past year, according to a Food and
Agriculture Organisation fisheries analyst.
The European Commission yesterday launched public consultation on
reforming the market for fresh and processed fruit and vegetables,
part of its attempt to wean the sector from about €860m worth of
subsidies.
Legislation to harmonise vitamin and mineral fortification levels
across EU member states looks set to be adopted within weeks,
following this week's favourable vote by the European Parliament.
The Polish parliament's proposed ban on the sale and registration,
but apparently not planting, of biotech seeds, will likely violate
EU regulations, according to a USDA foreign agricultural service
GAIN report.
The European Commission has raised export subsidies available for
butter for the second month running, bowing to pressure from member
states concerned at volatile markets.
Poland has confirmed a new case of BSE in one of its cows, as
figures suggest the disease has crept forward in the country amid a
rapid fall in outbreaks elsewhere in the world.
Consumption of poultry meat has dropped by more than half in some
EU states, with 300,000 tonnes now in storage across the bloc,
according to EU estimates.
Sugar giant Sudzucker must work hard to guard against falling
revenue this year despite internal restructuring programmes and
expansion into other food sectors, warn analysts.
UK manufacturers boosted food and drink exports by three per cent
last year, with industry finding new overseas markets and
opportunities in supplying the private label segment.
The European Commission's cuts to export subsidies for dairy
ingredients have survived a series of rows between Member States,
as tension grows on how the bloc can meet its commitments to the
World Trade Organisation talks.
Consumer resistance against the jump in prices for canned tuna will
have a big impact on the market, according to the Food and
Agriculture Organisation.
Self-adhesive label trade association FINAT is to create a forum
between European and Indian labelling industries in order to give
companies in both regions a better chance of doing business with
each other.
Belgium and France remain top places for locating distribution or
logistics centres, while Eastern European companies are moving up
in rank as retailers expand in the region, according to a
consultancy report.
The EC has cleared Cargill's acquisition of Degussa's food
ingredients business after ruling that the move would not stifle
competition within the lecithin market.
