05/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - France calls for European committee to be set up against waste. France will be calling for the setting up of a European steering committee against food waste, Guillaume Garot, the French delegate minister for agri-food issues, announced during a visit to Italy on 1 February. The minister is currently on a European tour discussing this issue and indicated that “we have a lot to do together. We need to coordinate our action against waste”. Following visits to London and Cologne (Germany), Garot visited Bologna in Italy, “a region at the forefront of the fight against food waste”. In Italy, he visited a Coop supermarket where all products close to their use-by dates are immediately redistributed to charities. He also visited Villa Pallavicini, a centre for collecting and distributing surplus foodstuffs. In June, France will launch “a national pact against food waste”. The EU has set itself the target of reducing food waste by half by 2025. (LC/transl.fl)