World Food Day 2023: HaDEA’s action contributing to ‘One Health’ under the Single Market Programme Food strand

Every year on 16 October, World Food Day reminds us of the importance of having access to food that is safe, plentiful, nutritious and of high quality.

While European food safety and quality is already globally recognised, there remains a need to increase organic farming, improve animal welfare and reduce dependency on antimicrobials.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is linked to the excessive and inappropriate use of antimicrobials in animal and human healthcare. Statistics show that AMR leads to an estimated 33,000 human deaths in the EU/EEA every year, as highlighted in the Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy.

AMR is a global issue that best exemplifies the need for an interconnected approach between people, plants and animals, known as “One Health”, in order to protect the environment and the health of all.

In line with this, HaDEA has signed a contract  to train farmers and veterinarians working with food-producing animals. This supports the Farm to Fork strategy and the efficient implementation on the ground of the new measures to fight AMR.

HaDEA has also launched a  call for tenders under the Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF) initiative to organise and implement training activities in selected non-EU countries. The training activities will improve and strengthen the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) framework and related areas to support better production, processing, and trade of safe food, healthy animals and plants.

Background

The EU Single Market Programme brings together the Union actions in the fields of competitiveness of enterprises, especially SMEs, consumer protection, customers and end-users in financial services, policymaking in financial services and in the plant, animal, food and feed areas.

The Farm to Fork Strategy (F2F) is at the heart of the European Green Deal. It aims at making food systems fair, healthy and environmentally friendly.

Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF) is a training initiative of the European Commission, which has the objective to improve the knowledge and implementation of EU rules covering food safety and plant and animal health based on the 'One Health' approach.