EnvironmentFrom 30 December the EU will require proof that imported soymeal is not linked to deforested land, and Brazil's soy industry fears it could lose up to 4 million tonnes of sales to Argentina.
Daily lifeJust 19% of Europeans view innovative foods such as cultivated meat or gene-edited crops positively, though better-informed and younger consumers are far more open, a European Commission survey shows.
OrganicThe European Commission's Joint Research Centre says some liquid digestate fractions perform like synthetic fertiliser, as EU nitrogen prices rose another 40 percent between December and April.
CropsCommission Regulation (EU) 2026/2289, published on 16 October and in force about 5 November, changes the legal ceilings that food sold in the EU, home-grown or imported, must meet.
AgribusinessOxfam Novib's 'Toxic Trade' report says EU countries exported nearly 122,000 tonnes of pesticides banned at home in 2024, with Brazil the second-largest buyer after the United States.
LivestockThe European Commission says it will propose lifting its ban on Brazilian poultry meat and honey after a positive audit, while Brazil cannot yet reliably certify that its beef meets the EU's lifetime requirements.
OpinionMonica Teixeira of the European Crop Care Association argues that the EU's food and feed simplification omnibus should set one EU-wide start date for data protection so post-patent pesticides reach farmers sooner.
OpinionIn a Seed World Europe column, Franco Brazzabeni says the EU's Protein Action Plan, despite a non-binding target and no budget line of its own, gives growers of soybeans and pulses and the seed sector a real opening.
EnvironmentThe EU is developing a 'Sponge Facility' to spread nature-based designs that let cities soak up, hold and reuse rainwater, an approach China has made national policy since 2014.
CropsA CropLife Europe-commissioned analysis of 180 active substances due for renewal from 2030 finds 86 could be hit by a single EU-wide data-protection clock, many of them used on fruit, vegetables and other minor crops.
AgrotechPresenting a report on Europe's lagging crop output, Bayer argued that new genomic techniques could ease opposition to GM crops and called for a "fast lane" for new crop protection products.
AgrotechThe Ministry of Future Affairs has launched the New Foods RegLab to give 10 startups making cultivated meat and precision-fermented proteins pre-submission advice on EU approval, and will share findings with EFSA.
EnvironmentLawyers say intentional breaches of the EU Deforestation Regulation, which covers cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, rubber, wood and cattle, can carry prison terms of up to five years under the Environmental Crime Directive.
