Food
\nsecurity, jointly with the improvement of farming activity through cutting-edge
\nmethods are among the major development priorities at EU level. The eventual
\naim is to secure consumer protection, while also providing a guarantee for the
\nproper functioning of the single market. Standards have been agreed upon, enabling the hygiene
\nof foodstuffs, plants and animals’ health, but also staving off contamination
\nwith such substances as pesticides. In-depth check-up operations are conducted,
\nand imports from outside the European Union have to meet the same standards as
\nthe community foodstuffs. Limits have been set up for additives and the
\nveterinarian and phyto-sanitary drugs that can be added to fodder, but also a rigorous system for licensing and
\nselling genetically modified organisms. Roxana Morea is a press adviser of the
\nEuropean Commission’s Representation in Bucharest. She will now be explaining
\nwhat European policy stipulates as regards food security.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Food and nutrition security
\nguarantees that everybody has access to food that is nourishing,
\ncost-effective and available in acceptable quantities. Through the support provided in the field,
\nthe European Union actually seeks to build and strengthen its capacity to adapt
\nand respond to food-related crises, providing the needed support for all
\ncountries, so much so that no one should face starvation. Fighting malnutrition
\nis particularly vital, for children from disadvantaged categories to have the
\nchance to live a healthy life, to have access to education and therefore better
\nchances for building a good future. At the moment, every day, one person in
\neight dies of starvation, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. As for
\nthe European policy framework, it stipulates that nutrition security and sustainable agriculture are key
\npriorities for the European Union, especially with regard to development
\ncooperation policies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Until 2030,
\nBrussels has set up its own food-related objectives, which include a greater
\nfood production, which should be cost-effective and of higher quality, as well
\nas a sustainable and inclusive growth, given the present climate change conditions,
\nthe scarcity of natural resources and the growth of the world population. With details on that, here is Roxana Morea
\nonce again. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Access to food is a challenge in itself. It is not only access that
\nmatters, but also the fact that the available foodstuff must be nourishing. The
\nEuropean Union policy stipulates support mainly for the developing countries,
\nso that those countries, thanks to the support granted by the European Union,
\ncan cover the four pillars, officially recognized at the 1996 global food
\nsummit: availability of food resources, improved access
\nto those resources, the improvement of foodstuffs’ nutritional value, as well
\nas an enhanced crisis response and management capacity. To that effect, food
\nsecurity is a policy sector set at EU
\nlevel, whereby the EU expresses its full commitment to ensuring the coherence
\nof the entire development cooperation policy. In order to provide an increased
\nadaptability to crises, prevention and preparation projects are important. Such
\nprojects target the management of cyclic risks, such as hurricanes or strong
\nstorms, or unpredictable vulnerabilities, such as earthquakes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
An important chapter in the European policy on
\nfood security pertains to the prevention
\nof diseases transmitted from animals to humans. EU regulations guarantee that
\nzoonoses, such as salmonellosis or tuberculosis, are contained and only healthy
\nanimals and foodstuffs obtained from healthy animals are allowed access to the
\nfood supply chain. An equally important aspect is reducing the use of
\nantibiotics in farms. Antibiotics used to make up for the disproportionate
\ngrowth of animals and poultry resulted in an increased bacteria resistance to
\ntreatments for humans. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Given that nearly
\nhalf of the antibiotics produced at world-level are used in farms, a series of
\nmeasures is a must, MEPs have recently ruled. They have voted a bill aimed to
\nupdate the European Union legislation on veterinarian medicines, targeting the
\nrestricted use of the existing antimicrobial drugs and the creation of new
\nones. And that, taking into account that the warnings issued by the World
\nHealth Organization say we run the risk of getting closer to a post-antibiotics
\nera, where each year antimicrobial resistance causes a greater number of deaths
\nthan cancer. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The president of Romania’s Veterinarians Association Viorel
\nAndronie shares his opinion on that: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Such a specification is a
\nwarning signal and all decision-making bodies involved in that field should
\nunite, and everyone of them should do whatever needs to be done so as to
\nmaximize the reduction of resistance to antibiotics. And most importantly, we should give people
\nthe chance to benefit from antibiotics when they need that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As early as
\n2006, Romania banned the use of antibiotics as growth promoters.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Food security, jointly with the improvement of farming activity are among the major development priorities at EU level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":62891,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43939],"tags":[36736],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-155491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-future-starts-today","tag-food-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n