Plans to allow food to expire after charity | News

Riga, July 20, LETA. The Ministry of Agriculture has drafted amendments to the law on monitoring the food chain, which states that certain groups of food products may be transferred to charities after the expiry date.

The law states that expired foods are considered unfit for distribution. This applies to both perishable goods and foodstuffs with a minimum shelf life of "Recommended until …"

To reduce the incidence of food waste, it is intended to distribute certain groups of products, for example, for a new period of time. transfer to charities. It is intended to supplement the law by empowering the government to determine the cases, product group, type of distribution, period and procedure of food distribution after the end of the minimum period of validity. July 1

The ZM explains that this would introduce the declaration of the European Commission (EC) of 16 October 2017 on the guidelines for food donations of the European Union (EU). According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, about one-third of world food production is lost or wasted According to the United Nations Food and Drug Organization Agriculture (FAO), about one third of the world's food is lost or wasted. The production of food harvested, but ultimately lost or wasted, consumes about a quarter of the total agricultural water each year and requires arable land the size of the Chinese territory. According to the organization's data, annual food waste accounts for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The ZM emphasizes that food donation not only supports the fight against food insecurity, but can also effectively reduce food surpluses.

"We know that food producers and retailers are willing to donate their surpluses to food banks and charities, but only a small portion of the total food surplus is reinvested," notes the ministry.

The amendments also provide for other changes. For example, the Ministry of Finance explains that at present, the law provides that the government establishes a list of plants, parts of plants, their products and other substances that are prohibited and reserved for food. Appropriate provisions must be published by 31 December of this year at the latest. In their development, the other Member States of the European Union concluded that the ban and restrictions should be imposed only on plants and parts of plants, but not on plant products, because this would be an additional burden for food companies in Latvia. At the same time, as the law on veterinary medicine gives the Council of Ministers the power to determine the requirements for animal feed safety in accordance with EU regulations, several Cabinet regulations have been promulgated. Likewise, with the amendments, the law will include a general mandate for the Cabinet of Ministers to impose requirements for the movement of food in accordance with the directly applicable laws of the EU.

To use the law in the EU legal terminology, false food as unsuitable for distribution in the future.

The transitional provisions of the Act were also amended to specify a prompt entry into force of the provisions of the Act relating to the replacement of the term "dietary food" by "in certain groups"

The above-mentioned amendments to the Act will be decided by the Government at the meeting of 24 July.