- 08/04/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
AGRINFO continues to keep its network informed of new and upcoming changes to EU Regulations. Use of the service is growing, and the clear and accessible explanations about new rules are receiving very positive feedback.
Keeping up with new Regulations remains challenging for exporting countries, with large numbers of rule changes affecting all agri-food sectors, and covering multiple areas of law.
Improvement of the AGRINFO.EU website
In response to feedback from users, several improvements to the AGRINFO website were made. Most importantly, the regular newsletter AGRINFO Update, as well as the records on changing Regulations, can now be viewed in Spanish and French. Portuguese translation will be added in the coming months.
A new Publications tab makes additional AGRINFO resources more easily available. These include regulatory guides that give detailed explanations on compliance with some key new items of legislation. So far, guides are available on Upcoming EU Regulation on Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons in Food; rules on Exporting Honey to the European Union; and on Exporting fresh capsicum to the EU. Additional guides on the EU rules for organic production and labelling; aquaculture; and composite products are under development and will be available soon.
A new Ongoing Consultations tab gives links to consultations that are currently open for feedback, making it easier for stakeholders to comment on proposed EU Regulatory changes that could impact trade.
A landing page has been designed so that partner agencies and networks can add it to their own websites to link to the AGRINFO platform. Please contact us if you would like to access this facility (agrinfo@colead.link).
Latin America Outreach
During the first quarter of 2025, efforts have been particularly focused on increasing activities and outreach in Central and South America.
On 21 March, the AGRINFO Team collaborated with the Embassy of Brazil in Brussels to host a webinar on the rules for exporting novel foods to the EU, with a focus on traditional foods from the Amazon. This was delivered with the support of the European Commission (DG SANTE) and the European Food Safety Authority, and attended by over 130 participants from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The AGRINFO programme was presented to staff at all EU Delegations in Latin America to raise awareness about the service, and to foster contact with other EU-funded initiatives in the region. The Team has also met with the Embassies of Argentina, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, and Paraguay, and the PromPeru office in Madrid, and has held online meetings with several Central American organisations including the Secretaría de Integración Económica Centroamericana (SIECA) and the Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano. This has generated considerable interest in the services that AGRINFO can provide, and its importance in helping to maintain and increase trade between this region and the European Union.
As a follow-up to these preliminary contacts, the Embassy of Paraguay has already facilitated a meeting with the staff of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and will feature AGRINFO in its magazine for producers and traders in Madrid and Panama. Webinars are being organised for stakeholders in Panama, Paraguay and Colombia on topics of interest for their agri-food sectors, including on the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive; other webinars are planned. There has also been a significant increase in the number of new subscribers from the region to the AGRINFO Update email newsletter.
Feedback on the AGRINFO website and communication materials is always welcome: please feel free to contact us via the Ask AGRINFO facility.
This activity is supported by the AGRINFO programme. The AGRINFO programme is implemented by COLEAD and funded by the European Union (EU). This communication has been produced with the financial support of the EU. Its contents are the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the EU.
