The Congress of Deputies has finally approved the ‘Food Loss and Waste Prevention Law’, the most far-reaching law of this legislature as far as the Ministry of Agriculture is concerned. It affects bars, restaurants, the agri-food industry and farmers. To all those who eat except the consumers.
However, the law has been approved in a more nuanced way than Minister Planas wanted it, after PP, Vox, Junts and other investiture allies have managed to impose a series of changes in the plenary session.
PP, Vox and Junts have voted against all the individual votes that the PSOE and Sumar had presented to revoke some amendments filed by the opposition in the commission phase. In addition to that, PP, the Canarian Coalition and the Republican Left (ERC) have managed to introduce new amendments to the articles, also with the vote against the Government.
As the rule remains – it must now pass to the Senate – bars and restaurants and agri-food companies that have an area of less than 1,300 m2 are exempt from having to donate surplus food. It must be remembered that this is one of the most important points of the standard, lThe obligation for all actors in the chain – excluding consumers – to have a plan for waste prevention in which it is indicated in detail how the surpluses will be distributed, which must be done in accordance with a priority order that begins with human consumption and ends with obtaining compost.
This is important, because the law also includes recommendations for good practices, such as promoting the consumption of seasonal products, the priority sale of those that are close to the expiration date or the creation of shelves of ‘ugly fruits’ in stores. supermarkets.
And there are fines: 2,000 euros for minor infractions, such as not donating food, 60,000 for serious ones, such as not having a prevention plan, and 500,000 for recidivism in a serious offence.
Other substantial changes introduced thanks to the opposition amendments are the elimination of VAT on donations to non-profit entities for the purchase of food and the possibility of making temporary contracts for day laborers for unforeseeable circumstances.
This norm is one of those that were left in the pipeline due to the 2023 electoral call. So the parliamentary procedure was simple because there was sufficient consensus on the need for its approval, among other things because It is one of the many pieces of legislation that in our country are imbued with the spirit ofAgenda 2030, those sustainable development goals proposed by the United Nations in 2015. In 2018, the European Waste Directive 2008/98 was modified to adapt it to Goal 12 of said Agenda, and by doing this its application became an obligation for member countries.
However, in this second legislature, several opposition amendments – in alliance with some investiture partners – have put a damper on the original proposal of the ministry led by Luis Planas. Despite this, Planas was satisfied with the result this morning, because essentially the spirit of the rule is maintained.
#Congress #approves #food #waste #law #nuances #Junts #exempt #bars #donating #food
