EU’s Code of Conduct on Responsible Food Business and Marketing Practices aims to transform the way Europe produces, distributes and consumes food
More than 65 companies and associations have signed the European Union (E.U.) Code of Conduct on Responsible Food Business and Marketing Practices, which is launched by the European Commission under the aegis of its ‘Farm to Fork’ Strategy.
The Farm to Fork Strategy is an integral part of the European Green Deal. It sets out a long-term strategic vision to transform the way Europe produces, distributes and consumes food.
The Code aims to increase the availability and affordability of healthy and sustainable food options that help reduce EU’s overall environmental footprint. It has been developed with E.U. associations and companies, with active involvement and input from other stakeholders, including international organizations, NGOs, trade unions and trade associations.
Associations and companies in the food sector that sign the code commit to accelerate their contribution to a sustainable transition.
Taking it to twitter, the European Commission tweeted,
Our goal is to make food systems sustainable.
— European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) July 5, 2021
Today, we presented the Code of Conduct for Responsible Business and Marketing Practices. Already 6⃣5⃣ stakeholders signed it and became pioneers in this endeavor.
See the voluntary commitments ↓
More than 65 parties have signed the code. Of this, 26 are food manufacturers, 14 are food retailers, 1 from the food service sector and 24 associations. More E.U. associations and companies are expected to join the list.
Speaking on the occasion, the Commissioner for the Internal Market – Theirry Breton said, “The EU Code of Conduct on responsible food business and marketing practices is a considerable step forward made by the agri-food ecosystem. Every voluntary commitment counts to achieve the sustainable transition of our food systems, while increasing their resilience. The Commission is committed to mobilising its support instruments, in particular for SMEs, the backbone of the agri-food ecosystem, as we are embarking on this ambitious journey.”
The E.U. Commissioner for Health & Food Safety – Stella Kyriakides tweeted,
The transformation of our food systems towards more sustainability can only come with cooperation between all their actors.
— Stella Kyriakides (@SKyriakidesEU) July 5, 2021
The 🇪🇺 Code of Conduct, a key part of #EUFarm2Fork, will build on commitments from our food industry and encourage ambitious action for change. pic.twitter.com/bfdJEHlyn2
The E.U. wants to change the impact of food processing, retail and food services’ operations on sustainability and to improve the sustainability of the food value chains, in relation to primary producers and other actors in the chain. There is also a framework for companies with ambitious commitments and measurable outcomes covering a wide range of areas, from animal welfare, to sugar reduction and cutting greenhouse gas emissions in their full product range. The companies will be required to report the progress by submitting a summary of their sustainability report on an annual basis.
The Commission will now present the Code in the United Nations’ Food Systems Summit later this year.
