The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering this grant to enhance practical approaches to circularity in US-EU food and agricultural trade through workshops and seminars.

Program Description, Objectives, and Priorities

Individual firms, industries, and national regulatory bodies take different approaches towards the

same goals of sustainability and circularity for the production and trade in food and agricultural

products. Emerging sustainability regulations require understanding and adaptation by

agribusiness, in order to maintain agricultural trade flows.

This initiative will support the design, plan, and implementation of workshops and seminars to

inform stakeholders, regulators, and policymakers on scientific and technical options to address

challenges arising from the implementation of new regulatory mandates on sustainability and

circular economy themes such as plastic packaging bans, farm to fork traceability, ecolabeling,

recycled food contact material certification, reverse supply chains for reusable packaging, and

deforestation-free supply chains.

There is no consensus or internationally recognized standard on how life cycle analysis or other

forms of scientific analysis should be conducted to assess environmental impacts of food and

beverage products. Accordingly, this provides an opportunity for U.S. agricultural research and

technology to be better considered in such analyses.

USDA anticipates these workshops and seminars would be most impactful on the margins of

international trade shows and similar pre-planned gatherings of stakeholders, in which U.S. and

EU stakeholders and government officials would exchange perspectives on how sustainability

objectives can be met in a balanced manner without restricting trade or imposing unreasonable

costs on producers or consumers.

These activities could showcase the role of U.S. agricultural research in support of broader

global sustainability agendas, including the Collaborative Platform on Agriculture (CPA), which

is a new platform for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the EU Directorate General for

Agriculture and Rural Development that enhances communication, exchanges knowledge and

information, and promotes mutual understanding and trust, as the United States and the EU work

together to address global challenges and achieve common goals on climate change,

sustainability, and agri-foods exchanges.

Objectives

Activities should feature speakers and instructors from relevant U.S., EU/EEA, and European

research institutions, government subject matter experts, and private sector representatives

working on sustainability and circular economy initiatives in the United States and Europe.

Participants should have specialized expertise in topics such as innovation for improved

circularity, sustainable feedstocks, food product traceability, circular and sustainable food and

beverage packaging and logistics.

Participants of these workshops and seminars will:

(1) improve understanding of practical, transparent and evidence-based approaches to

address the scientific and technical challenges of implementing sustainability and circular

economy mandates in international supply chains for food and agricultural products;

(2) learn from existing research, best practices, and lessons learned from existing U.S. and

European industry practices for enhancing the circularity of food and agricultural supply

chains;

(3) identify opportunities to provide scientific input on the proposed EU and EU member

state sustainability initiatives, to ensure that they can be feasibly implemented and do not

unduly disrupt or inhibit agricultural trade; and

(4) improve understanding of emerging European and EU Member State circular economy

regulations, and how to comply with them.

Priorities

The workshops in the European Union are intended to broaden the current policy and regulatory

discussions surrounding circular economy initiatives to include a wide range of stakeholders

working on practical solutions to the scientific and technical challenges of implementing new

systems of sustainable packaging, farm to fork traceability, ecolabeling, and other circular

economy and sustainability initiatives.

These workshops could include side events at fora, such as the October 2022 SIAL Food Trade

Show in Paris, meetings of the Agriculture and Environment Committees of the OECD in Paris,

and relevant meetings in Brussels. Seminars could also be held in agricultural producing regions

in the EU in collaboration with EU Member State academic and agriculture institutions.

The recipient will collaborate closely with USDA offices in Washington, Paris, Brussels, and

other EU Member States as appropriate. The recipient is expected to identify appropriate venues

for activities, developing agendas, recruiting and selecting speakers, managing logistics for

speakers (as necessary), and generating printed materials, such as agendas.

Place of Performance

The recipient will conduct stakeholder dialogue activities in select EU Member States. Activities

could also occur within the United States. Events may also be hybrid or virtual if appropriate.

Program Description, Objectives, and Priorities

Individual firms, industries, and national regulatory bodies take different approaches towards the

same goals of sustainability and circularity for the production and trade in food and agricultural

products. Emerging sustainability regulations require understanding and adaptation by

agribusiness, in order to maintain agricultural trade flows.

This initiative will support the design, plan, and implementation of workshops and seminars to

inform stakeholders, regulators, and policymakers on scientific and technical options to address

challenges arising from the implementation of new regulatory mandates on sustainability and

circular economy themes such as plastic packaging bans, farm to fork traceability, ecolabeling,

recycled food contact material certification, reverse supply chains for reusable packaging, and

deforestation-free supply chains.

There is no consensus or internationally recognized standard on how life cycle analysis or other

forms of scientific analysis should be conducted to assess environmental impacts of food and

beverage products. Accordingly, this provides an opportunity for U.S. agricultural research and

technology to be better considered in such analyses.

USDA anticipates these workshops and seminars would be most impactful on the margins of

international trade shows and similar pre-planned gatherings of stakeholders, in which U.S. and

EU stakeholders and government officials would exchange perspectives on how sustainability

objectives can be met in a balanced manner without restricting trade or imposing unreasonable

costs on producers or consumers.

These activities could showcase the role of U.S. agricultural research in support of broader

global sustainability agendas, including the Collaborative Platform on Agriculture (CPA), which

is a new platform for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the EU Directorate General for

Agriculture and Rural Development that enhances communication, exchanges knowledge and

information, and promotes mutual understanding and trust, as the United States and the EU work

together to address global challenges and achieve common goals on climate change,

sustainability, and agri-foods exchanges.

Objectives

Activities should feature speakers and instructors from relevant U.S., EU/EEA, and European

research institutions, government subject matter experts, and private sector representatives

working on sustainability and circular economy initiatives in the United States and Europe.

Participants should have specialized expertise in topics such as innovation for improved

circularity, sustainable feedstocks, food product traceability, circular and sustainable food and

beverage packaging and logistics.

Participants of these workshops and seminars will:

(1) improve understanding of practical, transparent and evidence-based approaches to

address the scientific and technical challenges of implementing sustainability and circular

economy mandates in international supply chains for food and agricultural products;

(2) learn from existing research, best practices, and lessons learned from existing U.S. and

European industry practices for enhancing the circularity of food and agricultural supply

chains;

(3) identify opportunities to provide scientific input on the proposed EU and EU member

state sustainability initiatives, to ensure that they can be feasibly implemented and do not

unduly disrupt or inhibit agricultural trade; and

(4) improve understanding of emerging European and EU Member State circular economy

regulations, and how to comply with them.

Priorities

The workshops in the European Union are intended to broaden the current policy and regulatory

discussions surrounding circular economy initiatives to include a wide range of stakeholders

working on practical solutions to the scientific and technical challenges of implementing new

systems of sustainable packaging, farm to fork traceability, ecolabeling, and other circular

economy and sustainability initiatives.

These workshops could include side events at fora, such as the October 2022 SIAL Food Trade

Show in Paris, meetings of the Agriculture and Environment Committees of the OECD in Paris,

and relevant meetings in Brussels. Seminars could also be held in agricultural producing regions

in the EU in collaboration with EU Member State academic and agriculture institutions.

The recipient will collaborate closely with USDA offices in Washington, Paris, Brussels, and

other EU Member States as appropriate. The recipient is expected to identify appropriate venues

for activities, developing agendas, recruiting and selecting speakers, managing logistics for

speakers (as necessary), and generating printed materials, such as agendas.

Place of Performance

The recipient will conduct stakeholder dialogue activities in select EU Member States. Activities

could also occur within the United States. Events may also be hybrid or virtual if appropriate.