Food waste: Italy presents Law No 166/2016 in Brussels

On 14 June the second meeting of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste established by the European Commission was held in Brussels. The platform was launched at the end of last year and brings together 70 members, including representatives of Member States, international organizations (OECD, FAO, UNEP), and all actors of the food supply chain and non-profit organizations dealing with food recovery and redistribution as the European Federation of Food Banks.

After an overwhelming introduction by Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis who raised the enthusiasm of the participants and recalled that everyone can be a champion in the fight for preventing food waste, the European Commission updated the members on the ongoing work to draft EU guidelines on food donation that will be published by the end of 2017 and to establish a common methodology for measuring food waste across the European Union.

Then in the afternoon the attention has been focused on “food waste prevention” measures implemented at national level, including the new regulatory frameworks in place in France and Italy. Italy presented Law No 166/2016 approved on 19 August 2016 and entered into force in our country on 14 September 2016. “Both the European institutions and the trade associations" – Marco Lucchini, Secretary-General of Fondazione Banco Alimentare Onlus, said at the end of the meeting – “have clearly recognized that Law No 166/2016 is an extremely positive tool which concretely contribute to prevent food waste while fostering the donation of surplus food in an integrated and collaborative approach”.