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In an evaluation of Dutch food policy published on March 29, 2022, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Henk Staghouwer, proposed to explore the possibilities of introducing a meat tax in the Netherlands.

In June 2022, Poland reported four new outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) on hog farms, The outbreaks were located in ASF restricted areas that have a high concentration of ASF infections in wild boars. Additional outbreaks on farms are expected as the disease is more prevalent in the summer.

On June 10, 2022, the Dutch Minister for Nitrogen and Nature Policy, Ms. Christianne van der Wal, presented a plan laying out the objectives for Dutch nitrogen greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. The plan included both national and area-specific objectives .

The Netherlands is increasingly becoming one of Europe’s leading importers and exporters of seafood products. The United States was the Netherlands’ 15th largest foreign supplier of seafood in 2021. U.S. exports were dominated by frozen Alaskan Pollock (AP) which represented two-thirds of U.S. seafood trade to the Netherlands.

In Poland, the 2021/2022 wave of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) began on November 2, 2021, leading to 93 confirmed outbreaks in poultry through April 28, 2022, in 13 Polish provinces. The outbreaks were confirmed mainly in commercial flocks...

On April 22, 2022, the Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy, Rob Jetten, laid out the Dutch government’s policy for the application of biomass to the Dutch Parliament.

Since October 2021, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality has reported 37 findings of avian influenza at commercial poultry farms in the Netherlands. One of the most recent findings is in the municipality of Barneveld, which is considered the poultry capital of the Netherlands. Both the global Covid-19 crisis and local avian influenza outbreaks have had a negative effect on Dutch exports.

The turnover of the Dutch food processing industry for 2021 is forecast at $88 billion. Food companies that traditionally sell to HRI-foodservice outlets saw sales drop by roughly one-third due to the global pandemic.

Hong Kong continues to take random tests on imports of chilled and frozen foods and their packaging for the COVID-19 virus.

In 2019, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport announced a new nutrition labeling scheme for the Netherlands. Nutri-Score, an invention commissioned by French public health agency Santé Publique, would become the new voluntary front-of-pack nutrition label of choice in the Netherlands.

On February 9, 2022, the AGROUnia farmers association and its members protested in 50 cities across Poland and called for government action to support farmers. AGROUnia may organize additional protests in Warsaw if their demands are not met.

Retail chains operating in Poland have adapted the Polish Parliament’s regulations reducing the Value Added Tax (VAT) on food. Beginning February 1, 2022, the Polish Parliament implemented a zero VAT rate for all foodstuffs that had previously been...