Halting deforestation from agricultural value chains: the role of governments.
This paper summarizes the current state of concepts and approaches for addressing deforestation in the trade, marketing, and production of agricultural commodities that have a disproportionate impact on forests at international, national, and landscape level. To date, predominant attention has been directed towards the role of the private sector and "consumer countries" that shape market regulation. This publication aims to complement the international discourse by generating a greater focus on the role of "producer country" governments at the national and local level to support efforts to decouple agricultural production from deforestation. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc2262en
Laboratory study of water infiltration and evaporation in biochar-amended landfill covers under extreme climate.
Biochar has been used as an environment-friendly enhancer to improve the soil hydraulic properties. Previous studies focused on the effect of biochar addition for irrigation in agricultural soils. However, the understanding of the influence of biochar addition on water infiltration in compacted soils as used in landfill covers is limited. This study investigated the effects of peanut shell biochar addition on soil water infiltration with consideration of soil microstructure variations. The performance of biochar-amended soil was also explored under extreme rainfall and drought conditions. In this experiment, peanut shell biochar with particles finer than 0.25 mm was amended into compacted silty sand. Index soil properties and microstructure were observed. One-dimension (1-D) column tests and corresponding numerical modelling were carried out to investigate the performance of this cover material under different climate scenarios. The results suggested that the application of biochar can increase soil porosity, but a significant number of large pores (i.e., larger than 20 μm) was minimized. With the application of biochar, the soil covers thus become more efficient in preventing infiltration and percolation. This is also crucial to minimize the need for a relatively large thickness of soil cover. With an increase in porosity, the biochar can improve the soil water retention. Under extreme drought, the application of biochar can reduce the very low pore-water pressure (PWP) in soils by more than 50%. From all of these, peanut shell biochar can potentially be an eco-friendly and more sustainable solution for soil covers, even under extreme climate conditions. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2022.09.015
The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels.
The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown is published as the world confronts profound and concurrent systemic shocks. Countries and health systems continue to contend with the health, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a persistent fossil fuel overdependence has pushed the world into global energy and cost-of-living crises. As these crises unfold, climate change escalates unabated. Its worsening impacts are increasingly affecting the foundations of human health and wellbeing, exacerbating the vulnerability of the world's populations to concurrent health threats. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(22)01540-9
Marketing Orders Update: November 2022
USA: Walnuts Grown in California
This proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans amendments to Marketing Order No. 984 (Order), which regulates the handling of walnuts grown in California.
The California Walnut Board, which locally administers the Order, recommended amendments that would:
- eliminate mandatory inspection and certification of in-shell and shelled walnuts, and of shelled walnuts for processing;
- create a new mechanism for determining and collecting handler assessments;
- add authority to charge interest for late payments;
- establish an assessment rate of $0.0125 per in-shell pound of walnuts;
- expand the definition of “to handle” to include “receive”;
- and remove volume control authority.
The deadline for written exceptions is November 25, 2022.
Latest Trade News and Agreements: November 2022
Cambodia-Korea Free Trade Agreement
The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea ratified the agreement on September 27, 2022. According to the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CBC), the Cambodia-Korea FTA (CKFTA) is expected to foster Cambodia’s agricultural exports to the Republic of Korea, including cashew nuts.
The Agreement will come into force December 1, 2022.
EU-Australia: Framework Agreement Enters into Force
The framework agreement between the EU and Australia officially entered into force on October 21, 2022.
The objective of the agreement is to strengthen cooperation across a broad range of policy areas:
- Foreign policy and security
- Global development and humanitarian aid
- Economic and trade issues
- Justice and legal cooperation
- Research, innovation and the information society
- Education and culture
- Sustainable development, energy, and transport
- Fisheries and maritime affairs
- Health
EU-Korea FTA: Pine Nuts Geographical Indications (GIs)
The European Union and South Korea agreed to add 44 geographical indications (GIs) of the EU and 41 geographical indications of Korea to Annexes 10-A and 10-B of the Free Trade Agreement between both parties.
South Korea proposed GI to be added to Annex 10-A:
| Name to be protected | Product | Transcription into Latin alphabet |
| 가평잣 (Gapyeong Korean Pine nuts) | Pine nuts | Gapyeong Jat |
China: Decree 248 Product List Update
On October 6, 2022, the USDA released a Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report on recently made updates by the GACC to the list of products subject to Decree 248. This decree requires facility and product registrations for select food product imports into China to be completed and approved by GACC prior to shipment.
According to the report, additions include pine nuts. The report encloses an updated spreadsheet with: current list as of September 29, 2022, recently removed products, and recently added products.
Food Safety Update: November 2022
Codex Alimentarius: General Standard for Food Additives, Update
The Codex Alimentarius Commission has included its 2021 provisions in the Codex General Standards for Food Additives. This database is regularly updated and provides all the provisions for food additives that have been adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Nuts and dried fruits are among the products covered.
WHO: Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022-2030
The World Health Organization´s (WHO) Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022-2030 was adopted by Member States at the 75th Session of the World Health Assembly.
Strategic priorities:
- Strengthening national food control systems.
- Identifying and responding to food safety challenges resulting from global changes and food systems transformation.
- Improving the use of food chain information, scientific evidence and risk assessment in making risk management decisions.
- Strengthening stakeholder engagement and risk communication.
- Promoting food safety as an essential component in domestic, regional and international food trade.
EU: Discussions on Extension of Glyphosate
Glyphosate is currently approved for use in the EU until December 15, 2022. On October 14, the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed did not reach a decision on an extension of the current approval of glyphosate by one year. According to The Glyphosate Renewal Group, the Commission already mentioned they would proceed to appeal.
EU: Planting of Walnuts Originating in Moldova
The European Commission published the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1916 of October 7, 2022, amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as regards certain plants for planting of Juglans regia L. originating in Moldova.
On the basis of the scientific opinion of the European Food Safety Authority, up to two-year-old bare-rooted, dormant, free of leaves, grafted plants for planting and rootstocks of Juglans regia L. originating in Moldova should no longer be considered high-risk plants.
The Regulation entered into force in October 10, 2022.
China: National Food Safety Standards, Update
The People’s Republic of China, National Health Commission (NHC) released an updated Catalogue of National Food Safety Standards. The catalogue, sourced from the Department of Food Safety Standards and Monitoring and Evaluation, includes 1,455 national standards, covering an array of topics: from mycotoxins to pesticides and labeling, among many others.
USA: Walnut Crop Insurance Provision
This rule by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), amends walnut crop insurance regulations to remove the minimum acreage insurability requirement. This change is expected to align the insurability requirements for walnut crop insurance with other tree nut insurance policies.
It is effective since October 31, 2022. The deadline for comments is December 27, 2022. The FCIC may consider the comments received and may conduct additional rulemaking based on the comments.
Sustainability Update: November 2022
FAO, 26th Session of the Committee on Forestry
On October 3-7, 2022, and celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Committee on Forestry (COFO) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations discussed how FAO should proceed with work on linkages between agriculture, forestry and climate change, and examined preparations for the 2025 edition of the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA).
Issues discussed include:
- FAO’s flagship report, The State of the World’s Forests 2022: Forest pathways for green recovery and building inclusive resilient and sustainable economies;
- the outcomes of the XV World Forestry Congress held from 2-6 May in the Republic of Korea;
- FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-2031, which seeks to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems;
- implementation of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests and strengthening FAO’s contribution to the International Arrangements on Forests;
- the action plan for the implementation of the FAO Strategy on Climate Change 2022-2031;
- linkages between agriculture and forestry.
FAO, Halting Deforestation from Agricultural Value Chains, the Role of Governments
This report, released by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), summarizes the current state of concepts and approaches for addressing deforestation in the trade, marketing and production of agricultural commodities that have a disproportionate impact on forests at international, national and landscape level. The publication focuses on the role of "producer country" governments at national and local level to support efforts to decouple agricultural production from deforestation. Nuts and fruits are among the food groups covered.
EU-Morocco Green Partnership
The program “Terre Verte” aims to contribute to the national strategies of Morocco “Green Generation” and “Moroccan Forests” covering the period 2020-2030. It aims to promote an ecological transition conducive to the creation of decent work opportunities in Morocco in the agricultural and forestry sector.
The program has three specific objectives:
- support for sustainable agricultural value chains,
- protection and management of forestry,
- job creation and social inclusion across the two sectors.
EU: European Commission Work Program for 2023
On October 18, 2022, the European Commission adopted its 2023 work program setting out the next steps and targeted actions. It also lists the key legislative proposals that should get priority in the legislative process to ensure swift implementation on the ground across all six of the Commission’s headline ambitions.
New initiatives include:
| Policy objectives | Initiatives |
| Waste Reduction | Revision of food waste and textiles aspects of the EU waste framework Directive (legislative, incl. impact assessment, Articles 191 and 192 TFEU, Q2 2023) |
| Sustainable Food Systems | Legislative framework for sustainable food systems (legislative, incl. impact assessment, Q3 2023) |
| Healthy Soils | Initiative on protecting, sustainably managing and restoring EU soils (legislative, incl. impact assessment, Article 192(1) TFEU, Q2 2023) |
Pending proposals include:
| Full title | References |
| Proposal for a regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 | COM (2022)305 final 2022/0196 (COD) 22.06.2022 |
| Proposal for a regulation on prohibiting products made with forced labor on the Union market | COM (2022)453 final 2022/0269 (COD) 14.09.2022 |
| Proposal for a directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937 | COM (2022)71 final 2022/0051 (COD) 23.02.2022 |
Chile: Survey to Prioritize Areas for Sustainability Standard for Prunes
To support their work on the development of the sustainability standard for Prunes, the Association of Processors and Exporters of Prunes of Chile (Chileprunes) is requesting relevant stakeholders, from Chile and beyond, to answer a prioritization survey to identify focus areas in the development of the sustainability standard.
The survey focuses on the relevance and impact of various aspects of the primary production (on-farm) and agro-industrial adaptation processes such as drying and packaging of dried plums.
GRI: Sustainability Reporting, Revised Universal Standards Now Available in Chinese
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is looking to increase engagement with organizations in China. According to GRI, two launch events for the Chinese translations were attended by over 1,200 stakeholder representatives in the region.
The Universal Standards 2021 will come into effect for reporting from January 1, 2023. Applying to all GRI reporting organizations, they are comprised of three standards:
- GRI 1: Foundation - introduces the purpose and system of GRI reporting, setting the key reporting concepts, requirements and principles;
- GRI 2: General Disclosures - disclosures on reporting practices, activities and workers, governance, strategy, policies and practices, and stakeholder engagement;
- GRI 3: Material Topics - step-by-step guidance and revised disclosures on how the organization determines, lists and manages each of its material topics.
EU: Trade Agreements to Respect Environmental, Labor and Human Rights
On October 6, 2022, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that emphasizes the need of EU’s free trade agreements to contribute to carbon-neutral economies, by prioritizing trade in goods and services provided through sustainable practices while respecting human rights.
While the Commission proposes the application of the new Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) rules only to future and ongoing trade negotiations, the Parliament would extend them to all existing trade agreements, including to those the signature of which is pending.
Council conclusions on the Trade and Sustainability review of October 17, 2022, noted the “support to the Commission's commitment to strengthen further the implementation and enforcement of TSD provisions in all future negotiations of trade agreements and to reflect it in the ongoing negotiations as appropriate, including by proposing to apply the compliance stage of the general state-to-state dispute settlement to the TSD chapter of such agreements. The Council invites the Commission to use review clauses and, where relevant, joint committees to align existing trade agreements with the new TSD approach, as appropriate.”
Labeling Update: November 2022
South Africa: Product Standardization and Labeling of Dried Fruits
On September 28, 2022, South Africa notified the World Trade Organization on new proposed regulations to set minimum quality standards for the grading of dried fruit and prescribe the labeling of such products when presented for sale, as well as the control system to ensure compliance to the standards. Food safety issues are excluded from the proposed regulations.
Period for comments ends November 27, 2022.
Study on performance of carbon source released from fruit shells and the effect on biological denitrification in the advanced treatment.
In order to solve the problem of shortage of carbon source for biological denitrification in advanced treatment of the effluent from secondary treatment of sewage, five kinds of fruit shells (pistachio shell, peanut shell, ginkgo shell, walnut shell and hazelnut shell) were preliminarily selected from eight kinds of fruit shells for experiments of static carbon release and denitrification. The carbon release performance (amount and law of carbon release and biodegradability of released carbon) and denitrification performance of different shells were investigated. Results showed that the peanut shell had the largest amount of carbon release (0.88 mg chemical oxygen demand [COD] g-1) and the highest removal rate of nitrate (NO3--N) (76.48% ± 4.06%). However, the released carbon could not be fully utilized by denitrifying bacteria, resulting in a (205.90% ± 59.49%) increase in effluent COD compared with influent. The amounts of carbon release of ginkgo nut shell, walnut shell, and hazelnut shell were low (0.45, 0.41, and 0.43 mg COD g-1, respectively). The released carbon could not be used easily by microorganisms. Meanwhile, the contents of degradable aromatic protein and protein-like in dissolved organic matter (DOM) were low. Even the fulvic acid-like with low biodegradability also appeared in the soaking solution of the hazelnut shell. The NO3--N and total nitrogen aveage removal rates were low in these three fruit shells and showed the removals within the 54.10-57.25% range and 52.21%-54.24% range, respectively. The amount of carbon release of pistachio shell was lower than that of peanut shell. However, the released carbon of the former was more biodegradable than that of the latter. Moreover, the relative molecular mass of DOM was small, and the contents of aromatic protein and protein-like were much higher than those of the four other kinds of fruit shells. The NO3--N removal rate (71.48% ± 0.98%) of pistachio shell was only slightly lower than that of peanut shell. In conclusion, pistachio shell was the best carbon source for biological denitrification in the advanced treatment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136173
Physiological characterization of the wild almond Prunus arabica stem photosynthetic capability.
Leaves are the major plant tissue for transpiration and carbon fixation in deciduous trees. In harsh habitats, atmospheric CO2 assimilation via stem photosynthesis is common, providing extra carbon gain to cope with the detrimental conditions. We studied two almond species, the commercial Prunus dulcis cultivar "Um-el-Fahem" and the rare wild Prunus arabica. Our study revealed two distinctive strategies for carbon gain in these almond species. While, in P. dulcis, leaves possess the major photosynthetic surface area, in P. arabica, green stems perform this function, in particular during the winter after leaf drop. These two species' anatomical and physiological comparisons show that P. arabica carries unique features that support stem gas exchange and high-gross photosynthetic rates via stem photosynthetic capabilities (SPC). On the other hand, P. dulcis stems contribute low gross photosynthesis levels, as they are designed solely for reassimilation of CO2 from respiration, which is termed stem recycling photosynthesis (SRP). Results show that (a) P. arabica stems are covered with a high density of sunken stomata, in contrast to the stomata on P. dulcis stems, which disappear under a thick peridermal (bark) layer by their second year of development. (b) P. arabica stems contain significantly higher levels of chlorophyll compartmentalized to a mesophyll-like, chloroplast-rich, parenchyma layer, in contrast to rounded-shape cells of P. dulcis's stem parenchyma. (c) Pulse amplitude-modulated (PAM) fluorometry of P. arabica and P. dulcis stems revealed differences in the chlorophyll fluorescence and quenching parameters between the two species. (d) Gas exchange analysis showed that guard cells of P. arabica stems tightly regulate water loss under elevated temperatures while maintaining constant and high assimilation rates throughout the stem. Our data show that P. arabica uses a distinctive strategy for tree carbon gain via stem photosynthetic capability, which is regulated efficiently under harsh environmental conditions, such as elevated temperatures. These findings are highly important and can be used to develop new almond cultivars with agriculturally essential traits. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.941504