Page 127 of articles about nutrition

Member States endorsed yesterday a Commission proposal that shall harmonise the implementation of the zero tolerance policy on non-authorised genetically modified (GM) material in feed. The adopted measure defines the lowest level of GM presence (LLP) that is considered by the EU GMO Reference Laboratory when validating detection methods (it is set at 0.1%).

Yesterday, at the meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, the Member States adopted a statement on the dioxin incident which took place in Germany late 2010-early 2011.

According to the preliminary statistical data provided by FEFAC members, the compound feed production in the EU-271 in 2010 may have reached a level of 149 mio. t, i.e. 0.5% above the figure for 2009 (148.2 mio. t).

Import duties on certain cereals imported into the EU will be suspended next week until the end of June 2011 in order to ease the pressure on the EU market, especially for animal feed. Backed by Member States this morning within the Management Committee, the move is intended to help maintain a good balance on the EU market. The suspension relates to existing tariff rate quotas for low & medium quality soft wheat and for feed barley, where the preferential tariffs of 12 €/tonne and 16 €/tonne respectively will be reduced to zero for the volumes permitted under the quota.

For 2010-11, total exports are forecast to be slightly lower than 2009-10 due to lower exports of wheat (ex-durum), canola, oats and flaxseed.

At a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH), Member States returned no definitive opinion, either for or against, on proposals tabled by the Commission concerning three applications on GM maize and an application on cotton product.