Worldwide News 2023.02.28.
Commission presents EU-New Zealand trade agreement for ratification

The EU-New Zealand trade agreement has today taken a big step towards ratification, with the Commission sending it to Council for signature.
The EU-New Zealand trade agreement has today taken a big step towards ratification, with the Commission sending it to Council for signature.
The European Commission adopted new rules which will, once applicable, lower the Maximum Residues Levels (MRLs) of two pesticides in food.
The share of EU agricultural land under organic farming increased by more than 50% over the period 2012–2020, with an annual increase of 5.7%. In 2020, 9.1% of the EU’s agricultural area was farmed organically. On average, though with substantial variation across Member States, organic farms are bigger than conventional farms and run by younger farm managers. Echoing the growth of production, the retail sales of organic products doubled in the EU between 2015 and 2020.These are among the main conclusions of the Market Brief on organic farming published today by the European Commission.
The European Commission today launched a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on its draft proposal for Guidelines on how to design sustainability agreements in the field of agriculture (‘Guidelines’) using the novel exclusion from EU competition rules introduced during the recent reform of the common agricultural policy (‘CAP’).
The approval of all 28 Strategic Plans (one for each EU country and two for Belgium) by the European Commission marks the start of the new Common Agricultural Policy, scheduled on 1 January 2023.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, for the Council of the European Union, and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed the Joint Declaration on EU legislative priorities for 2023 and 2024, building on the solid progress over the last year.
The European Commission launches dashboard on food security in the EU.
Agriculture ministers discussed the progress made so far on implementation of the New EU Forest Strategy for 2030. Ministers also discussed the agricultural, forestry and marine aspects of the proposed nature restoration regulation, as well as the outcome of the EU Bioeconomy Conference 2022. The Commission also presented its communication on fertilisers, explaining the need to ensure the availability and affordability of fertilisers as a basis for food security.
Fertilisers play a significant role for food security. Their production and their cost largely depend on natural gas. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a global mineral fertiliser and energy crisis is now weighing on global food security and food prices. In this context, the European Commission presented today a Communication on ensuring availability and affordability of fertilisers.
Both EU agri-food exports and imports slowed down very slightly in value terms in July 2022, according to the latest monthly agri-food trade report published today by the European Commission. While the value of EU exports decreased by 2% compared to June and now stand at €19.2 billion, they still remain significantly higher than last year. EU imports also decreased by 2% in the same period, reaching €14.3 billion in July 2022. The EU trade balance is stable at €4.9 billion.