The EU Code of Conduct on Responsible Food Business and Marketing Practices was launched on Monday 5 July by the European Commission and stakeholders.
Compliance with the Code of Conduct is expected to increase the availability of healthy and sustainable food options as defined by the UN, at an affordable cost, to help reduce the global ecological footprint, according to the Commission. Sixty-five signatories (26 food manufacturers, 14 retailers, one from the food service sector and 24 associations) have already signed up to this initiative, which is part of the EU’s ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy.
The signatory companies make voluntary commitments on issues such as animal welfare, reduction of sugar content, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across their entire product range. They will report on their progress through an annual summary of their sustainability report.
For European associations, the Code of Conduct sets out seven objectives, each with its own targets and indicative actions to promote a shift towards healthy and sustainable consumption patterns. The objective is to improve the impact of food processing, retail and food services’ operations on sustainability and to improve the sustainability of the food value chains. Associations must report on their progress every year. See the signatories: https://bit.ly/36g4gE0 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)