Farm to Fork Strategy
The Farm to Fork strategy is the European roadmap to address the challenge of designing a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system. Since it should set out the regulatory and non-regulatory measures needed to achieve this goal, several actions proposed by the Commission under this framework directly interest the EU quality schemes.
EU Quality Policy
EU Quality Policy aims to protect the names and characteristics of European agricultural products specific to a territory in order to promote their unique characteristics resulting from natural factors and traditional know-how linked to their geographical origin. This policy is the core of AREPO’s activity and its defence is our main mission.
Common Agricultural Policy
After a long negotiation process started in 2018, the last reform of the Common Agricultural Policy is coming to an end and the new CAP will come into force in January 2023, following a two-year transition period. Discover AREPO actions to achieve a right recognition of quality and origin products in the new CAP.
EU Promotion Policy
EU Promotion Policy helps EU agri-food sector professionals to finance information and promotion campaigns for breaking into international markets and making consumers more aware of the efforts made by European farmers to provide quality products. This policy is fundamental for the promotion of EU quality schemes in the internal market and in third countries and AREPO is currently contributing to its review.
Food Labelling
In the framework of the Farm to Fork strategy, the European Commission is considering options for several new food labelling initiatives to empower consumers to make healthy and sustainable food choices.
Organic Agriculture
Organic farming is a well-known and EU regulated food production system that contributes to deliver the ecosystem services needed for reaching EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity targets. As such, it is considered a major pillar of the F2F strategy for a transition towards a European sustainable food system.
Geographical indications for industrial and craft products
There is currently no EU-wide system for protecting the geographical indications of non-agricultural products (such as handicrafts and industrial goods). Driven by a vision of GIs as tools for rural development and territorial planning, AREPO believes that a regulation at EU level is needed.
EU Trade Policy
The benefits of Geographical Indications (GIs) are particularly important from an international trade perspective as they can provide an export promotion mechanism through which the EU can compete on quality rather than price, due to their specificities attributable, at least in part, to their territories of origin and their inherent natural and human factors.
Research and Innovation
Adding value to products of origin through the development of sustainable GIs requires multi-disciplinary research, innovation and education in order to exploit their potential and respond rapidly to current challenges. Research and innovation should support the improvement of those products and use them as case study to extend good practices to other sectors.