Column & News ¦ IDM
News
May/June 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com · 45
EU FTAs with ‘Oceania’: tuned again
(Australia) / in a final signature mode
(New Zealand)
Since the momentum in the FTA negotiations between the EU and
Australia has been somehow watered down under the previous
Australian political leadership, the new Australian government will
for sure make an effort to catch up again.
In the meantime, the New Zealand minister for trade and agriculture,
Damien O’Connor and the European Commission have
doubled the efforts to get the EU – NZ trade deal done.
We expect New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern in Brussels end of
June 2022 to meet with EU COM President Ursula von der Leyen
for a ‘signing procedure’.
To be seen if this EU – NZ FTA, that is basically already fully
spelled out, will find the approval of the European Parliament and
the 27 EU Member States.
A restart of the U.S. – EU dairy connection
We also felt this new era at our EDA Washington DC visit in May
2022, where we encountered at all levels a new interest in our
transatlantic relationship – that is right now still under the more or
less hidden threat of the Boeing / Airbus case, which is only put on
stand-by, but not solved yet.
This new ‘openness’ translated already in the updated U.S. FDA
guidance on how infant formula facilities, especially in European
countries applies for exports to the U.S. under new enforcement
discretion.
We do hope that this positive transatlantic momentum is a
sustainable one. And talking about ‘sustainability’, there are the
“mirror clauses” – or the global application of EU health & environmental
standards.
We are waiting for the official EU report on the ‘rationale and
legal feasibility’ of applying EU standards to imported agri-food
products, aka ‘mirror clauses’.
It goes without saying that all agri-food imports all over the
world have to comply with the relevant, mostly Codex Alimentarius
based internal standards relating to the final product.
The European Union now intends to impose its requirements
on the way products are produced (usualy referred to as ‘process
and production methods (PPMs)), id est mostly referring to ‘sustainability
requirements’, which are even not yet defined at EU
level. This PPMs do often not even have any effect on the physical
characteristics of the final product.
While such requirements have already been set and challenged
at WTO level (see for instance the ban of certain tuna imports to
the U.S.), we consider a multilateral, hence negotiated and ideally
science-based approach for the only adequate avenue here.
INGREDION
Functional native starches
Ingredion EMEA launched NOVATION Lumina 8300
and 8600 functional native starches in EMEA. The innovative
functional native rice starches were designed
specifically to improve colour and flavour release, enabling
natural flavours and colours of applications to
shine through, even in white products.
Until now, even functional native waxy rice starches
contributing the least colour and flavour have struggled
to meet strict sensory requirements in white or
light-coloured applications with delicate flavours. This
limitation has been addressed with the launch of NOVATION
Lumina 8300/8600, enabling improved consumer
preference and allowing the superior label and
functional benefits of rice starch to be accessible to a
wider range of products - all while supporting “natural”
claims and other clean label messages.
NOVATION Lumina 8300 and 8600 functional
native starches improve making of shine-through
and white products (photo: Ingredion)
And even if we fully support the EU policy makers in their ambition
to be the driving force of the global transformation to sustainable
food systems, the ‘mirror clauses’ strategy that is voiced
today in the Brussels political environment is for sure not the most
conducive here.
Maybe a good opportunity for the European authorities to
show a clear proof point for the claimed EU pro-trade approach,
especially in this new geopolitical era, that seems to open up a
window of opportunity for rethinking global trade.
/international-dairy.com
