During its plenary session on 9 December 2021, the European Social and Economic Committee (EESC) adopted a report on how to align EU food production, which includes seafood production, with the UN Sustainable Development Goals “for a sustainable post Covid 19 recovery.”
The EESC acknowledges that EU food companies across the supply chain, including fishers, are already working to make progress on sustainability, but “more needs to be done.” Of particular importance for fisheries, it identifies sustainable sourcing as an “effective entry point towards greater sustainability.” On this topic, the EESC report highlights the limitations of voluntary approaches such as the EU code of conduct on responsible business and marketing practices, and calls for “the adoption of regulation and legislation to ensure a swift transition to sustainable food systems,” with a particular attention to the social aspect of sustainability.
Achieving sustainable food systems in Europe and internationally can only be achieved “if the legislative framework provides a true level playing field between EU companies producing sustainable food and third-country companies, to enable strong, resilient and sustainable production,” highlights the report. It further calls for the EU trade policy to ensure that imports meet high social and environmental sustainability standards. During the plenary debate, Javier Garat, member of EESC Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment (NAT) section, insisted on the fact that “it is important that leading food chains exercise due diligence to ensure environmentally, socially and economically sustainable practices by suppliers.”
The urgency of a Due Diligence Policy for European companies
The EESC report comes as the European Commission delays, for the third time, its legislative proposals on corporate due diligence. Commenting on the postponement, the European Parliament S&D Group emphasized that: “Regular news reports of oil spills, child labour, poor working conditions, land grabbing and bribery in value chains demonstrate that making our businesses more responsible and more sustainable is a matter of urgency.” It recalled that several EU member states are moving forward with national laws to ensure due diligence in food value chains, like France, the upcoming president of the EU, and that the European Parliament, has shown a broad, cross-party support for such an initiative.
The European Commission made a first, if controversial, step, presenting a plan, on 17 November, to introduce mandatory due diligence for products sold on the EU market to ensure they are not linked to deforestation or forest degradation. However, many stakeholders believe that the plan falls below expectations, with the scope being too narrow. Environmental organisations insisted that ecosystems other than just forests needed to be included because they support livelihoods, house biodiversity and act as carbon sinks.
With the Green deal and the Farm to Fork strategy, the European Union (EU) has committed to supporting the global transition to more sustainable food systems. As the world’s largest food importer, and world’s most lucrative market for seafood products, the EU can use its trade policies and agreements to stimulate and incentivise more sustainable seafood production practices by its companies that trade with third countries.
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Andre Standing, senior consultant at CFFA, discusses with researcher Arınç Onat Kılıç, who has recently published a paper exploring the Seychelles Blue Bond, its impact on local fishing communities and the broader implications of private finance for developing the blue economy.