During the morning of November 3rd, European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski and US Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the launching of a « new chapter » in the EU/US relation during a VIP event in Brussels co-organised by Farm Europe & the Forum for the Future of Agriculture. The occasion was to re-launch the Transatlantic partnership, which links the two continents together to face the challenges of climate change and the transition to sustainable agri-food systems.
The event was opened by João Pacheco Senior Fellow at Farm Europe, who touched on the challenges raised by climate change, and the fact that both the EU and the US share the urgency of mitigating its effects. He stressed that the main question is the how to get there, opening for different paths that can bring us to the same targets, but with divergent consequences. He also pointed out that the pathways chosen by the US and the EU would have a strong impact worldwide, given the two are major world food suppliers. He then summarized the US and EU approaches to climate change: while the US is investing on innovation & technology to foster sustainable productivity growth, the EU is betting on its Green Deal (Farm to Fork & Biodiversity Strategies) and on binding reduction targets. Nevertheless, the European action might be undermined given the studies that have analysed the impacts of the F2F & BDS strategies, notably on their unsustainably economic consequences (increased dependency from imports from third countries, increased food prices, lower farmer’s incomes, etc).
In his opening remarks, US Secretary for agriculture Tom Vilsack underlined that the US & the EU have different paths to reach the same objective of a more sustainable and more productive agricultural system. In order to do that, the US are investing in innovation & science, based on technology solutions. He touched upon trade barriers that, besides slowing down trade, also have an effect on knowledge exchange, which is vital for reaching the target both continents are aiming at. Effective communication is as important as innovation, Vilsack said, stressing that partnerships are essential.
Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski opened his remarks by underlying the common challenges and opportunities that the two counterparts share and face, pointing out that, sometimes, differences out-shadow the common traits (depopulation in rural areas, small holdings producers, etc.). He pointed out that the pandemic showed the vulnerability of the food systems and underlined the fact that they have to be transformed towards more sustainable models. The Farm to Fork strategy aims at increasing the three aspects of sustainability (environmental, economic, social), but the path to get there is not easy, the Commissioner said, and some efforts have to be made.
He shared with his US colleague the commitment to invest in the promotion of digital technologies, research and innovation, knowledge sharing.
Paolo De Castro, MEP (S&D) and former Italian Minister for agriculture said that regardless of the entity of the problems that we have to deal with or the ambition of the goals that we need to reach, the real challenge is the how to get there. He advocated, therefore, to dedicate more time to the development and the study of innovative solutions. He mentioned genetics, precision agriculture, data analysis as tools that are useful to put into practice the sustainability targets, but that they only represent one piece of the puzzle. Farmers need public support in the form of time & money to make sure that the Farm to Fork strategy does not turn into a de-growth strategy.
Question & Answer session from journalists and one from a farmer, Benjamin Lammert, followed the opening statements
Q: Is agriculture part of the problem?
Vilsack responded by saying that agriculture can offer some concrete solution if we give it the chance to. He mentioned, for instance, the issue of food waste and the fact that the key to solve this problem is to measure and collect data around it and create financial incentives.
Wojciechowski, on the other hand, focused his answer on agriculture and on the whole system around it, stressing that agriculture can do only as much and that the actors involved in the food-system (transportation, distributors, processing facilities, etc) have to be involved in the transition of the agri-food sector.
De Castro’s answer focused on the consumers, and the fact that they need to be informed and active about the changes in the agri-food sector. Communication should be fostered in explaining the public the advantage of innovation and the results that can be reached by it.
Q: Can trade policy be a tool to reach the sustainability objectives?
The EU Commissioner agreed with the underlying statement of the question, strongly advocating for trade to be one of the tools to be used in influencing sustainability standards by reducing trade barriers and at the same time by having common standards for exchanges.
Tom Vilsack replied by saying that more comprehensive trade deals should be favoured and in trade negotiations they should try to avoid to isolate single problems that the counterpart has.
Q: How is the US looking at the debate on biotechnologies?
Vilsack said that recent studies in terms of gene editing open for new opportunities for increase in productivity gains. GMOs have taught us important lessons, notably the necessity to be more transparent.
Q: Consumptions pattern – label, food taxes, how to change?
Commissioner Wojciechowski said that consumers are more and more interested in how food is produced and where does it come from. In order to improve the information, labelling can provide an effective tool that the processing industry should be looked at it as well.
De Castro intervened by stressing the role that education should play in order to have more informed consumers. In his words, “an educated consumer is a responsible one”. We should give information to them, so to let them take the right decisions.
Q: Can mirror clauses be applied in trade deals, and how does the US perceive them?
Commissioner Wojciechowski replied by saying that safety standards are the basis for every EU import and that these measures will keep them in place. However, US Secretary Vilsack said that the EU products have easier access to the US market, but not vice-versa. He argued that if you impose production standards, you create the basis for the creation of barriers in trade. Moreover, you threaten innovation (less exchanges in knowledge as well). Both the Commissioner and US Secretary Vilsack agreed that we should aim to produce more with less (although that is not the result of the Commission F2F and BDS proposals).
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