With the European Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy (F2F) now on the agenda, the future of the agro-food economy will look very different and more sustainable than it does today.  AmCham EU represents companies from across the agro-food supply chain and believes that the Farm to Fork strategy as part of the European Green Deal can bring lasting and fundamental change to the food and feed sector.

AmCham EU has identified key objectives in its position paperthat can help contribute to achieving a more sustainable food system in Europe and help facilitate decarbonisation of the agro-food sector.

The objectives strive to ensure sustainable production, consumption, better regulation, trade and international cooperation as well as the required investment in research and innovation.

Sustainable Production

• The use of technology will be essential to maintain resilience and reduce disruptions to food production and help to make sure process remain sustainable. The Common Agricultural Policy framework should also support European farmers to meet the EU Green Deal and F2F Strategy ambitions and objectives.

Sustainable Consumption

• Clear and consistent communication on food from stakeholders will help enable consumers to make more informed and responsible choices when it comes to what ends up on their plate.

Sustainable trade and international cooperation

• AmCham EU supports a strong rules-based multilateral trading system administered by the WTO, which provides legal certainty in international trade and investment and promotes international cooperation in trade, sustainable development and further dialogue around sustainable food systems at global level in order to accelerate change.

Research and innovation

• Research and innovation (R&I) play a key role in the transition towards more sustainable food systems and should be supported by concrete actions on R&I funding for sustainable food systems, including public-private partnerships.

Better regulation 

• AmCham EU believes that all new measures or policy should be evaluated holistically. Impact assessments should be required for every new or amended policy being proposed.

The paper also highlights the importance of policy coherence and predictability and the need to align objectives and targets between the various initiatives of the strategy in order to develop pragmatic solutions to address challenges the industry will encounter the throughout the transition. As key investors in the agro-food sector, AmCham EU members will continue to provide constructive input on the different initiatives of the strategy in the months and years to come.