Agriculture and sustainable development

Part I - The EU approach: the CAP, safety, labelling, quality and new trends

The EU's common agricultural policy (CAP):

i) moving from the promotion of quantity, through the reforms starting in 1992 and up to 2020, to the promotion of quality;
ii) the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and its influence on EU agricultural policy;
iii) how the current farm payment systems seek to protect the environment and achieve sustainability;
iv) competition rules in agriculture, unfair trading practices and short supply chains;
v) agriculture and climate change;
vi) the Farm to Fork strategy.

The Health and Safety of agriculture and foodstuffs in the EU:

i) the General Food Law (Regulation 178/2002): definitions, principles, risk assessment and management;
ii) the Hygiene of Foodstuffs (Regulation 852/2004): hazard analysis at critical control points (HACCP);
iii) the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission;
iv) genetically modified organisms;
v) hormones and anti-biotics in animal farming;
vi) glyphosate.

Labelling and consumer protection:

i) the general rules on the labelling of foodstuffs (Regulation 1169/2011);
ii) the origin of primary ingredient (Regulation 775/2018);
iii) health and labels: traffic light labelling and nutri-score;
iv) highly processed foods with zero calories and high fat Mediterranean foods;
v) the labelling of sustainability, the role of private actors.

The EU's Quality Policy:

i) Protected Geographical Indications, Protected Designations of Origin and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed;
ii) the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights TRIPs Agreement) and the protection of geographical indications (GIs);
iii) the protection of GIs in Free Trade Agreements.

New perspectives: novel food, insects and nutraceuticals:

i) insects as food: the novel food regulation;
ii) Insects as pollinators: bees and pesticides;
iii) nutraceutical, blurring the line between food and pharma.


Part II - The international perspective: trade and human rights

Trade in foodstuffs:

i) compliance with EU food standards;
ii) controls on the import of foodstuffs;
iii) conflicts between standards: the failed EU/US trade agreement - TTIP, the EU vs the China model;
iv) ethics in trade: free trade and public morals: the EU seals case;
v) the next phase: commodities (soya, palm oil etc.) associated with deforestation;
vi) the effects of Covid-19 on trading agri-food products.

Food Sovereignty and food security:

i) the right to food and the evolution of this concept;
ii) traditional concepts of food sovereignty;
iii) food security and poverty;
iv) food security and food waste;
v) foreign direct investment and food security (Regulation 2019/452).


Concluding discussions:

i) is meat eating sustainable?
ii) What is sustainable agriculture?
iii) How do we feed 9 billion?
iv) Which are the roles of different actors in the supply chain?