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Both EU beef and pork production are forecast to decline in 2022. The lower domestic beef production is caused by a shrinking dairy herd with higher milk deliveries but a lower output of animals for slaughter.

As part of the European Green Deal's Farm to Fork Strategy (F2F), the European Commission (EC) aims to review EU legislation for animal welfare and align it with the general sustainability goals. In particular, the EC has requested the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) provide scientific opinions for new animal welfare initiatives.

On February 16, 2022, the European Commission launched a four-week call for evidence on an upcoming report that will assess the rationale and legal feasibility of applying EU health and environmental standards to imported agricultural and agri-food products such as animal welfare standards, processes, and production methods.

Just over one third of the European Union (EU) budget, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2023-2027 was formally adopted after extensive stakeholder dialogue and negotiation between the co-legislating EU institutions: the European Commission, the Council of Member States (MS) Agriculture Ministers (AGRIFISH), and the European Parliament.

Climate change is an increasing challenge for Austrian agriculture and Austrian agricultural policy. The Austrian government tries to counteract the adverse effects of the climate change through specific climate protection programs and measures.

U.S. exporters of composite products will face new documentary requirements for shipments to the European Union after January 15, 2022. The new requirements are broken down into three categories of composite products: non-shelf stable, shelf stable with meat, and shelf stable without meat.

U.S. beef exports into the EU’s High Quality Beef (HQB) quota had a hard time in 2021 as they suffered from the repeated closures of the EU hospitality sector from COVID-19. EU imports of U.S. beef decreased substantially after the end-of-year 2020 holiday season and only gradually increased throughout 2021 again

On January 18, 2022, the European Commission launched a public consultation on biobased, biodegradable, and compostable plastics. Stakeholders have until March 15, 2022, to comment.

The upward trend of the organic food market in the European Union (EU) continues. EU organic sales reached record highs in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has become an additional driver in further boosting organic sales.

On December 6, 2021, the European Union published new rules concerning wine, dealcoholized and partially dealcoholized wine, and aromatized wine. These new rules introduce a compulsory nutrition declaration and a compulsory list of ingredients for wine products sold on the EU market beginning on December 8, 2023.

The European Union (EU) follows a complex, rolling system of review for active ingredients and Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) in food. For agricultural inputs, U.S. farmers must know early in the process of review to prevent or mitigate the loss of, and/or access to, chemical inputs.

The European Union’s (EU) complex and lengthy policy framework for biotechnology creates a challenging environment for research and limits access to innovative tools for EU farmers.