EU: no glass reuse for wine, and save promotion funds. But agriculture does not cheer

After dodging, for now, the risk of cuts in horizontal funds for promotion, in the European Union, as announced by Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, wine has also passed the packaging issue unscathed, being the only alcoholic beverage out of the reform of European regulations on the subject. Not so, however, are many other food products, to the disappointment of many organizations in the agricultural supply chain. On the subject of packaging, the fact that the regulation voted today by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety leaves wine out of this reform, which provides for the redefinition of reuse targets for various packaging materials, including glass, “represents an important first step for wine pending the vote in plenary and the Trilogue between Parliament, Council and Commission; an important result, achieved in particular thanks to the constant work of the Italian MEPs deputy rapporteurs on this dossier, which underlines both the specificities of wine and the efforts already underway by the supply chain to ensure sustainable development of the sector”, comments the Unione Italiana Vini (UIV). According to which, "the reuse constraints in the legislation would have led to quite a few problems for the sector and in the re-organization of the supply chain. In particular, a system that effectively supports the competitiveness and consequent sustainability of the sector must recognize the efforts made by the wine industry over the years to lighten bottles (-25% average weight in recent years), while ensuring specific protection for Geographical Indications and brands. Following the exemption of wine bottles from mandatory reuse targets and the focus on the specificity of GI products on packaging minimization obligations, we therefore hope for greater support and incentive for voluntary initiatives and digital labeling solutions as an effective means of providing consumers with specific information on packaging and product recycling”.
And if the Uiv expresses obvious satisfaction for the “rescue” of horizontal funds for promotion, Federvini speaks of “a vote in chiaroscuro that of this morning on the revision of the Packaging Directive: if wines, thanks to the fundamental work carried out by the Italian delegation, can finally breathe a sigh of relief, there is still much work to be done to avert the extremely onerous impact that reuse could determine for the Italian aperitifs, bitters, liqueurs and spirits sector. As Federvini, we are determined to continue firmly in all institutional venues our efforts to protect our businesses and we hope that there can be a revision in the vote already at the Plenary Assembly of the European Parliament scheduled for November”, said President Micaela Pallini. While the exclusion of wines from the perimeter of the reuse obligation was an important milestone for the Italian wine sector, achieved thanks to the energetic and tireless work led by Italy's shadow rapporteurs, explains Federvini, the amendment signed by rapporteur Ries instead stipulated that spirits and flavored wine products be included in the constraint. “A decision that does not fully take into account the characteristics of Italian aperitifs, bitters, liqueurs, spirits and vermouths, which, like wines, employ glass bottles - 100% recyclable - produced by increasingly resorting to modern technologies that have made it possible to reduce over the past 30 years by more than 30% in weight and an increasing share of secondary raw materials. Moreover, our country can boast excellence in glass recycling, with a recovery rate of 80.8% in 2022, which already exceeds the European targets set for 2030”, explains Federvini. “A significant effort for the Italian industry that now risks being mortified by this vote that establishes the principle of mandatory reuse for spirits and flavored wines, products characterized by a marked propensity to export, low rotation and whose packaging is a vehicle of differentiation and identity of the company, the history of the territory of origin, traditions, culture and values. A measure, this one, that will also have significant repercussions in logistical and operational terms, causing serious repercussions on the prospects of a sector worth more than 6 billion euros”, President Pallini concludes.
The approval of the two compromise amendments on minimization and labeling, although still improvable, marks a step forward on the European Commission’s initial proposal. On the minimization issue, the risk of bottle standardization has been averted, thus validating the function of packaging, which will retain shape and design, the identity and distinctive features of products. On the labeling front, the use of harmonized pictograms and the presence on the packaging of information about the material and its disposal, together with digital solutions, responds to the need to encourage quality separate collection without fragmenting the single market.
Along the same lines is Confagricoltura, which, if it raises its thumbs on the wine front, stresses its disappointment with the Environment Commission’s approval of the report on reducing packaging waste, which includes a ban on the use of single-use packaging for fruits and vegetables under 1 kg”, and which “did not take up the demands of the agricultural world, the Horeca and all other economic sectors, which were accepted instead in the Agriculture Commission”. “This proposal will negatively impact not only all packaging producers, but also suppliers and users”, says Confagricoltura president Massimiliano Giansanti, “There is an extremely real risk that entire strategic supply chains of national production and distribution, which are themselves highly integrated on a European scale, will be damaged. Those who would suffer the worst damage would be agricultural and food supply chain companies and cooperatives, the driving sector of our exports”. Food packaging in general, including single-use packaging, among the most directly affected by this approach, Confagricoltura explains, is crucial for food protection and preservation, consumer information, traceability and product hygiene, reduces food waste and promotes access to food, even in the most at-risk areas. In particular, IV gamma companies would now have to cope with the impossibility of finding alternative packages on the market that can offer the same guarantees for consumers with respect to their health, perfect preservation, and non-bacterial contamination of food. But there is more. Because, according to Confagricoltura, a “negative impact on our economy comes instead from the regulations on pesticides approved by the Environment Commission itself. At a time of great uncertainty in markets and supply, a vote was taken to reduce the use of plant protection products by at least 50% at the European level, while for the national level the decrease varies according to use in the period 2013/2017. Confagricoltura had called for a rejection of the proposal due to the changed global geopolitical situation, the lack of plant protection alternatives, and because it does not take into account the different production, climatic and soil situations of each individual member state. “Today’s vote on the two dossiers”, Giansanti points out, “is in open contrast to the launch of a strategic dialogue on agriculture announced in July by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who had recognized the strategic role of the primary sector and the need for policies to safeguard the production potential of agricultural enterprises. The entire report will be voted on in the Plenary in mid-November”, the Confagricoltura president concluded, “Now begins a path to obtain a change of position on the dossiers there”.
Negative comments on today’s votes in Europe, with the exception of wine, also came from cooperatives. “We welcome with an obvious disappointment the results of today’s vote of the Environment Committee of the Europarliament, but at the same time we call for a maximum mobilization of MEPs in view of the next vote in plenary session scheduled for November. The goal cannot but be to try to reverse the course, in defense of the entire Italian agrifood supply chain”: so says Alleanza Cooperative Agroalimentari president Carlo Piccinini, according to whom the votes on packaging and pesticides are “strongly penalizing for European producers”. Specifically, Alleanza Cooperative Agroalimentari expresses “strong disagreement” with some of the measures approved in the Packaging Regulation: the ban on single-use packaging for all fruit and vegetable packages weighing less than one kilogram “risks jeopardizing the efficiency and practicality of the agrifood distribution chain”.Similarly, the requirement for compostable labeling for fruit and vegetables “risks incurring excessive costs for companies without necessarily ensuring a positive impact on the environment”.