News on Legal issues from Europe

Sensor-based sorter manufacturer TOMRA offers their insights on the impact of sorting technology on food safety in the Potato Processing Industry

Shortly after it became clear that falsified seed potatoes certificates were in circulation in the Netherlands and Belgium, Breeders Trust, in cooperation with NAK, identified the perpetrators and was able to enact a confession from the guilty parties.

Breeders Trust, the organization that defends the Plant Breeders’ Rights of 10 leading European potato breeders, won a lawsuit earlier this month against the Danish potato export and trading company Myco Seed A/S located in Give (Denmark).

Earlier this month, Breeders Trust - an organisation looking after the interest of a.o. potato breeders - revealed a major fraud, concerning the switching of at least 200 tons of potatoes meant for consumption, to seed potatoes

El país suramericano quiere aplicar impuestos contra las papas fritas de Bélgica, Países Bajos y Alemania.

The warm and dry weather of recent months has caused a commotion in the potato sector in Northern Europe. This is why representatives of both the Dutch and Belgian potato sectors came together to discuss the situation and to voice their concerns.

The North-Western European Potato Growers (NEPG) conclude that the potato production this year in North-Western Europe will be much lower than average and that quality issues will be a main challenge.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released REPLACE, a step-by-step guide for the elimination of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the global food supply. Eliminating trans fats is key to protecting health and saving lives.

Two potato packaging companies in Germany have been fined a total of ‎€ 13.2 million (USD 15.8 million) for price fixing related to their supplies to the Metro Supermarket group.

The Antwerp Court of Appeal has sentenced a farmer in the Belgian province of Antwerp to pay a large fine and damage compensation to Breeders Trust for not reporting his acreage farm saved seed for the varieties Asterix and Fontane which are protected under Plant Breeders’ Rights.

Plant breeders must have free access to biological material in order to be able to breed new crop species. Patent law thus does not apply to conventional plant breeding. This was unanimously confirmed by the European Member States at the Competitiveness Council in Brussels.

McCain Foods (GB) in Whittlesey, near Peterborough, has been fined £800,000 (1.15 million USD) for safety failings after an employee nearly lost his arm.

During the annual shareholders meeting of Breeders Trust, held on 13 October 2015 in Vienna, Mr. G.J.F. Backx (Joure) was elected as the new chair of the Board of Breeders Trust.

In Denmark, Kims has gone to court to stop Taffel's Super Snacks to sell square crisps.

A former Irish potato supplier to supermarket giant Tesco has failed to have a legal action for alleged breach of contract and personal injuries entered into the fast track Commercial Court list.

Physical activity has little role in tackling obesity - and instead public health messages should squarely focus on unhealthy eating, doctors say.

Breeders Trust, an organisation set up by seed potato companies to enforce proper contributions by farmers for use of proprietary potato varieties, has sued two Belgian Farmers for infraction of breeders rights of potato varieties.

This week, Breeders Trust successfully reached an agreement with eight Italian agricultural cooperatives and producers that propagated potato varieties and marketed these as officially certified seed potatoes, without permission of the variety owner.