Overview: EU Farm to Fork and Green Deal Initiatives

Update

In 2025, the European Union presented a new Vision for Agriculture and Food for 2025-2040. See EU Vision for Agriculture and Food 2025–2029.

This summary describes the main European initiatives that were proposed as part of the 2019 Green Deal – the European Union’s strategy to be the first climate-neutral continent. This overall strategy set the basis for the 2020 Farm to Fork Strategy. This summary explains which of these initiatives have been completed or are still ongoing.

Overview

The European Green Deal, adopted at the end of 2019, is a set of policy initiatives that aims to put the European Union (EU) on the path to a green transition. It sets out how to make the EU the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, with an action plan to boost the efficient use of resources; move to a clean, circular economy; restore biodiversity; and cut pollution.

The Farm to Fork Strategy aligned with the EU Green Deal, aiming to make food systems fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly. Adopted in May 2020, the strategy set out both regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives, with the key aims of reducing the environmental and climate footprint of the EU food system; ensuring food security in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss; and leading a global transition towards competitive sustainability, from farm to fork.

Pursuing its efforts towards sustainable transition, in February 2025 the European Commission published the Vision for Agriculture and Food. This new roadmap will guide EU activities and align policy development in strategic issues for agriculture and food for the period 2025–2029 (see EU Vision for Agriculture and Food 2025–2029). This AGRINFO summary outlines the main initiatives defined under the EU Green Deal and Farm to Fork Strategy with an impact on agri-food trade from low- and middle-income countries. It explains which of these initiatives have been completed or are still ongoing.

Sustainability

Sustainable Food Systems framework legislation

The proposal for a legislative framework for sustainable food systems was initially presented as one of the flagship initiatives of the Farm to Fork Strategy. As well as pursuing specific sustainability-related goals, this law would aim to mainstream sustainability in all the EU's policies, which would require a new legal framework for all future food policy and legislation. The framework was also expected to contain (among others) definitions of sustainability, principles on labelling requirements for food products, and minimum criteria for sustainable public procurement of food. However, work on this initiative has not progressed as originally planned.

Timeline: The publication was foreseen for Q3/Q4 of 2023, but this did not take place. No reference was made to this initiative in the Vision for Agriculture and Food 2025–2029.

See EU sustainable food system framework.

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

Directive 2022/2464 (the CSRD) outlines the information that companies have to report regarding the risks and opportunities arising from social and environmental issues, and on the impacts of their activities on people and the environment. This helps investors, civil society organisations, consumers, and other stakeholders to evaluate a company’s sustainability performance.

Large companies, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) listed on the stock market, are required to report on sustainability. Non-EU companies listed on the stock market that have both significant activity in the EU (turnover >€150 million) and a subsidiary in the EU also face these reporting obligations. This puts demands on their upstream suppliers to provide information on sustainability.

The specific information that must be presented by companies is set out in European Sustainability Reporting Standards (Regulation 2023/2772). These standards aim to ensure that all companies provide reliable and consistent data which allows stakeholders to compare their sustainability performance.

In February 2025, the European Commission published a proposal to change certain parts of the CSRD to reduce the regulatory burden and potentially negative economic impacts on companies. The Council of the EU (Member States) and the European Parliament will now review and amend that proposal. The final CSRD is expected by end of 2025/early 2026.

Timeline: The CSRD entered into force on 5 January 2023. The first companies will have to apply the new rules for the first time in financial year 2024, and publish reports in 2025.

See Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD); Review of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D)

Directive 2024/1760 (the CS3D) aims to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global value chains. Large companies operating in the EU are required to identify and, where necessary, prevent, end, or mitigate adverse impacts of their activities on human rights (such as child labour and exploitation of workers) and on the environment (such as pollution and biodiversity loss). As of now, this applies to EU companies with more than 1,000 employees and a turnover above €450 million, and non-EU companies with a net turnover above €450 million within the EU.

These obligations will intensify scrutiny of environmental and human rights impacts along value chains supplying the EU market. While most non-EU operators are not directly addressed by these obligations, they will probably have to provide a greater quantity and range of information on their operations to their EU buyers, to help them demonstrate that sufficient attention (“due diligence”) is being paid to these possible adverse impacts.

Timeline: Directive 2024/1760 was published in July 2024 and will apply from mid-2027 to mid-2029, depending on the size of the company.

In February 2025, the European Commission published a proposal to change certain parts of the Directive to reduce the regulatory burden and potentially negative economic impacts on companies. The Council of the EU and the European Parliament will review and amend that proposal by end half of 2025/early 2026.

See Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive; Review of Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D)

Revision of EU marketing standards on fruit and vegetables, honey/ fruit juices and jams, poultry, olive oil, the hop sector, and eggs

EU marketing standards help to improve the quality of products, provide consumers with adequate and transparent information, and improve financial returns to growers by reducing false claims and unfair competition. Some current standards are now becoming outdated and may hinder efforts to make food systems more efficient and sustainable. These proposals aim to update the existing marketing standards to encourage the supply of more sustainable products and simplify current legislation. The revision of the standards also seeks to address sustainability issues such as food waste.

Timeline: The revised standards have been published as follows:

• olive oil, November 2022 (Regulations 2022/2104 and 2022/2105)
• marketing standards for the fruit and vegetables sector, November 2023 (Regulation 2023/2430)
• eggs, November 2023 (Regulations 2023/2464, 2023/2465, 2023/2466)
• the hop sector, December 2023 (Regulations 2024/601, 2024/602)
• honey,fruit juices, and jams, June 2024 (Directive 2024/1438).

The revised standards for poultry meat are yet to be adopted and published.

EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

Deforestation and forest degradation are occurring at an alarming rate, aggravating climate change and biodiversity loss. The main driver is the expansion of agricultural land to produce commodities such as cattle, wood, palm oil, soy, cocoa, and coffee. The objective of the EU Deforestation Regulation 2023/1115 (EUDR) is to curb deforestation and forest degradation resulting from EU consumption and production. It aims to minimise consumption of products coming from supply chains associated with deforestation or forest degradation, and to increase EU demand for, and trade in, legal and "deforestation free" commodities and products. This will provide opportunities to enhance trade from non-EU countries in deforestation free products, as well as boosting opportunities, and creating a fairer and more transparent market for suppliers that invest in sustainable, forest-friendly strategies.

Companies supplying the EU market with cattle, wood, palm oil, soy, cocoa, and coffee will have to demonstrate that all products were produced on land where there has been no deforestation after 31 December 2020, and in accordance with legislation in the country of origin. To support this due diligence process, producers and exporters will have to provide specific geolocation information linked to individual production plots of land, and demonstrate the right to use that land. The requirements and timescale may be challenging for some small-scale producers, for businesses sourcing from complex value chains with large numbers of smallholders, and for smallholders/ indigenous communities in countries where enforcement of land rights is weak.

Timeline: Regulation 2023/1115 was published in June 2023. It will apply from 30 December 2025 for large companies operating in the EU, and 30 June 2026 for micro- and small companies, 12 months later than originally planned (see EU Deforestation Regulation: 12 month delay to implementation).

See EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

Labelling

Proposal for a Green Claims Directive

Today it is difficult for consumers, companies, and other market actors to make sense of the many labels and initiatives on the environmental performance of products and companies. There are more than 200 environmental labels active in the EU, and more than 450 worldwide. Some of these are reliable, but some are not, and they cover a diverse range of issues. Greenwashing is also a problem, where companies give a false impression of their environmental impact or benefits. This misleads consumers and does not give fair advantage to companies that are making the effort to genuinely green their products and activities. To tackle this issue, the Green Deal states "Companies making 'green claims' should substantiate these against a standard methodology to assess their impact on the environment".

Under this initiative, new rules will aim to establish a common methodology and enforcement mechanisms for environmental claims for all products (including agri-food). This will provide more consistent information, and prevent companies from making false environmental claims. Given the wide range of private sustainability standards, EU horizontal standards may be simpler for non-EU exporters facing diverging demands. However, there may be technical challenges and associated costs of meeting a broad range of environmental criteria.

Timeline: The proposed Green Claims Directive is under discussion in the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The European Parliament (March 2024) and Council of the EU (June 2024) have adopted their negotiating positions, and negotiations between them have started. Once adopted, Member States will have 2 years to transpose the Directive into national law.

See Proposal for a Green Claims Directive.

Sustainability labelling framework

Under the Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission announced a proposal for a sustainability labelling framework with the aim of empowering consumers to make informed and sustainable food choices. The proposal would govern the information given to consumers relating to the sustainability of food products, including nutritional, climate, environmental, and social aspects. For companies supplying the EU market, this would help sustainable suppliers to differentiate their products, mitigating potential effects of greenwashing.

Timeline: Was due to be included in the Sustainable Food Systems framework that has been delayed (see “Sustainable Food Systems framework legislation” above).

Origin indication labelling

Indicating the country of origin is currently obligatory for certain foodstuffs, including beef and beef products, unprocessed meat of pigs, sheep, goats and poultry, fresh fruit and vegetables, fishery products, honey, olive oil, and eggs. Under the Farm to Fork Strategy, a proposal is under development to revise the EU rules on information provided to consumers. This includes extending the mandatory origin labelling to other products such as milk, meat used as an ingredient, rabbit and game meat, rice, durum wheat used in pasta, potatoes and tomato products. For non-EU suppliers, origin labelling can enhance the value of products with a strong geographical link in relation to their competitors. However, increasing the amount of origin information enables buyers/ customers/ retailers to become more demanding about specific origin, and could potentially limit opportunities to enter markets. The focus on origin, and preference for local sourcing within the EU, could also reduce demand for imported produce.

Timeline: Initially scheduled for the end of 2023, this proposal has been postponed but is still ongoing. The Commission’s EU Vision for Agriculture and Food 2025–2029 announced the “extension of the country of origin labelling in line with sectoral specificities”.

Nutrient profiles and front-of-pack nutrition labelling

The Farm to Fork Strategy targets the entire food chain, and describes the need to further empower consumers through labelling information. A revision of Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers is under way. This includes a proposal for EU harmonised and mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling, and for setting nutrient profiling criteria (thresholds of nutrients above or below which nutrition and health claims on foods are restricted). The aim is to encourage EU consumers to make more informed and healthy choices by restricting nutrition and health claims to foods with certain nutrient content, and by harmonising rules on mandatory nutrition labelling. The changes will require adjustments to all packed food exported from non-EU countries to the EU market.

Timeline: Initially scheduled for the end of 2023, this proposal has been postponed but is still ongoing.

Livestock

Revision of existing animal welfare legislation

The European Commission plans to revise the following pieces of legislation: the Directive on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes; four Directives laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens, broilers, pigs, and calves; and the Regulations on the protection of animals during transport and at the time of killing. A proposal on animal welfare labelling is also foreseen.

For non-EU countries supplying the EU market, this may increase demands for monitoring/ certification, and potentially increase costs to meet more stringent animal welfare requirements.

Timeline: A proposal on the protection of animals during transport is being reviewed by the European Parliament and by the Council of the EU (see Animal welfare during transport). The Commission will continue preparatory work on other animal welfare proposals.

See Revision of animal welfare rules.

Revision of Feed Additives Regulation

The current Feed Additives Regulation 1831/2003 sets out rules for authorising feed additives and placing them on the market. A proposed revision of the rules aims to contribute to a more sustainable food production system by establishing new criteria to promote the authorisation of feed additives, with positive effects on animal welfare and on the environment. It will support mechanisms to promote innovation in feed additives, particularly those contributing to reducing the use of antibiotics and mitigating climate change. Further aims include streamlining the risk assessment processes, and reducing the administrative burden for authorisation holder applications, to bring innovative feed additives to the market earlier.

Timeline: This proposal has been postponed.

See Evaluation of Feed Additives Regulation and launch of online EU Register of Feed Additives.

Plant health/pesticides

Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation

The European Commission’s original (2022) proposal on the sustainable use of plant protection products was rejected by the European Parliament, and was withdrawn by the Commission President in February 2024.

In February 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that this proposal has been withdrawn. The Commission will now focus on improving implementation of Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides (see Summary Record of the Plenary Meeting of the Advisory Group on Sustainability of Food Systems).

See Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation proposal.

Pesticides containing biological active substances

The European Commission has adopted new rules to facilitate the approval of microorganisms for use as active substances in plant protection products. The aim is to simplify the risk assessment of microorganisms and bring them to the EU market more quickly. This will increase access to biological plant protection products, in line with the Farm to Fork Strategy objective of reducing dependency on chemical pesticides. The more rapid development of this technology in Europe could accelerate the availability of non-chemical options in non-EU countries.

Timeline: Four Regulations (2022/1438, 2022/1439, 2022/1440, 2022/1441) were published in 2022.

See Approval of biopesticides.

Food safety

Proposal on new genomic techniques

In 2001 the EU established rules for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (Directive 2001/18/EC). Since then, new genomic techniques (NGTs) have been developed, which the European Commission believes can benefit farmers, consumers, and the environment. However, the current rules make it challenging for products from these NGTs to enter the EU market. So the Commission has proposed new rules with two different categories of NGT plants/ products:

• plants/ products considered equivalent to those produced through regular breeding will not have to follow current EU GMO rules (Directive 2001/18/EC and Regulation 1830/2003) – they only need to be notified/verified by the EU (but not risk assessed) before being introduced to the market
• NGT plants/ products not equivalent to those produced by conventional breeding must undergo risk assessment and authorisation under the existing GMO rules.

Timeline: The proposed rules on NGTs are under discussion. The European Parliament (February 2024) and Council of the EU (March 2025) have adopted their negotiating positions to negotiate a final text,

See Proposal on new genomic techniques.

Regulation on plastic materials/articles to come into contact with foods

Regulation 2025/351 sets new rules for plastic food contact materials (FCM) to improve quality control. In particular, it aligns existing rules on plastic FCM (Regulation 10/2011) with legislation on recycled plastic FCM (Regulation 2022/1616).

Regulation 2025/351 introduces purity requirements for substances obtained from waste and natural materials, and adds quality control rules on good manufacturing practice. These rules form part of the measures being brought forward under the EU Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP). The changes are designed to reduce dependency on raw materials, boost the market for recycled plastics, and ensure that recycled plastics are safe when used in contact with food. Components of FCM can transfer from packaging materials into food, affecting not only the safety of the food but also the quality, taste, smell, and appearance. The rules ensure the safety of these materials, including the decontamination of plastic during recycling, and regulation of all recycling processes. Recycling installations located outside the European Union must be on the EU register, and must fully comply with the new Regulation, if their recycled plastic is to be used on food products placed on the EU market.

Timeline: Regulation 2022/1616 on recycled plastic FCM entered into force in 2022; Regulation 2025/351 on (recycled) plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foods entered into force on 16 March 2025.

See Plastic (including recycled) food contact materials.

Packaging

Packaging and packaging waste

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation 2025/40 sets new rules with stricter sustainability requirements for all food packaging, which will also apply to non-EU suppliers of packaged food to the EU market.

• All packaging must be recyclable. Plastic packaging must contain minimum amounts of recycled plastic, packaging must be minimised, and contaminants must be reduced. Producers of recycled plastic in non-EU countries must produce it in a way that is equivalent to EU standards on collection of plastic and environmental emissions.
• There will be new limits on concentrations of substances of concern, including polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in packaging.
• Documentation demonstrating compliance with new sustainability requirements must be passed along the supply chain.
• Certain packaging materials will be banned, including single use plastic packaging for quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables <1.5 kg. All sticky labels attached to fruit and vegetables will have to be compostable.

Timeline: Regulation 2025/40 will apply from 12 August 2026; some new rules apply from earlier in 2026, and recyclability and recycled plastic targets will apply from 2030.

See Review of packaging and packaging waste rules.

Policy framework for biobased plastics and biodegradable or combustible plastics

The transition to a circular, resource-efficient, climate-neutral economy, together with the ambition to reach zero pollution and the need to protect and enhance biodiversity, have triggered a rethink about how plastics are produced, used, and disposed of in the EU. This EU Communication outlines the EU policy framework on biobased, biodegradable, and compostable plastics. It sets out the EU vision for tackling plastic pollution through the development of alternative plastics (e.g. biobased, biodegradable, and compostable) rather than fossil-based plastics.

This framework and the consultation on bioeconomy (open for feedback until 23 June) will feed into the new bioeconomy strategy that the European Commission is planning to publish by the end of 2025.

Timeline: Communication published November 2022.

See Biobased plastics: EU strategy.

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