EUDR delay - temporary relief but kinks still not ironed out
Up until October 2024, the European Union had persisted that its Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) would be formally implemented on 31 December 2024 despite both internal and external opposition from its own parliament and industry, as well as commodity-producing countries.
The European Commission (EC) finally caved in to the pressure with a drastic change of mind in October, announcing that the implementation would be pushed back by a year to 31 December 2025 – but despite the relief voiced by the various food commodity sectors, there remains a great deal of lingering doubts that the underlying issues are far from resolved.
For instance, the palm oil industry associations in Malaysia and Indonesia both welcomed the postponement, but questions have continued to arise as to what changes to the EUDR will be made by the end of 2025.
“The palm oil community welcomes the proposed delay [as we] have been underlining the problems with EUDR for more than a year, and feel that our calls have been listened to,” Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) Chairman Eddy Martono stated.
“That said, our three key concerns still remain: the exclusion of smallholders, support for our national certification and compliance systems, and recognition of Indonesia’s anti-deforestation efforts.”
All of these concerns have been at the centre of fierce debate between the EC and producer nations for several years, and despite the postponement and promises for more international cooperation, there has yet to be any concrete direction about how these points will be resolved and whether any concessions will be seen.
“It’s worth noting that many concerns have been raised by Indonesia, Malaysia, other commodity exporting countries and even European operators, but generally dismissed out of hand by EU officials and other boosters of the regulation,” palm oil industry and trade policy expert Khalil Hegarty told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“This begs the question: if the EU can’t provide answers to its own farmers, foresters and industry on a serious regulation that is scheduled to come into force in less than nine months, what hope do exporting countries have?”
To date, the EC has positioned the postponement as 12 months of ‘phasing in time’ to give international partners ‘additional time to prepare’, saying that all its implementation tools are ‘technically ready’ – which indicates little hope that it plans to make any compromises.
“This extension [in no way] puts into question the objectives or the substance of the law, as agreed by the EU co-legislators,” the EC stated.
“The Commission considers that a 12-month additional time to phase in the system is a balanced solution to support operators around the world in securing a smooth implementation from the start.”
This is likely to mean even stricter, no-compromise implementation by the EC come the end of 2025, with some such as EU Parliamentary Greens political alliance agriculture spokesman Thomas Waitz already saying that the ‘very generous’ postponement means there are ‘no longer any excuses’ to implement this by the end of the year.
That said, given the current state of dissatisfaction by most producer nations with the existing EUDR as-is, it stands that if no changes are made to the EUDR requirements by time of enforcement, it is unlikely that the implementation will go through as smoothly as the EC seems to expect.
Nutri-Grade expansion in Singapore could cost prices to hike up even more
Over the past year, price hikes have been seen in just about every industry, including food and grocery shopping, as a result of manufacturers having to pass on increases in commodity and logistics costs to consumers.
But in Singapore, consumer woes may not be over yet this year, as the food industry believes that the upcoming expansion of the Nutri-Grade traffic light labelling scheme to cover not only sugar, but also sodium and fat content in food products could cause prices to hike up even further.
“Taking sodium into consideration, salt does not simply enhance flavour - it has multiple uses, such as retaining moisture and as a preservative, so reformulating products to contain lower levels will hence not only impact taste, but could impact food safety and shelf-life, adding further complexity to reformulation,” Food Industry Asia (FIA) CEO Matt Kovac told us.
“In terms of cost, it’s important to highlight that lower-sodium alternatives, like potassium chloride (KCl), were previously ten times more expensive than regular salt and thanks to industry grant support in 2023, this cost was decreased to four times that of regular salt – but other ingredient solutions that provide optimal balanced taste profiles could result in costs that are approximately 20 to 30 times higher, depending on the level of saltiness required."
More concerningly, he believes that these increased prices could potentially also impact the chances of consumers making the switch to healthier alternatives, which would defeat the whole purpose of the initiative.
“The costs of sodium reduction vary significantly by category. Industry estimates that for up to a 25% sodium reduction, categories like ketchup and sauces could achieve cost parity while a 25% to 50% reduction could lead to a 10% increase in costs,” he said.
“In snack products with seasonings, a 25% to 50% sodium reduction could incur a 10% to 20% incremental cost, as may bouillon cube seasoning blocks.
“As such, replicating the success of the Nutri-Grade scheme in the beverage sector across new product groups may present greater challenges as the multifaceted role of salt, higher costs of alternatives, and technological limitations suggest that the path to reformulation may be more complex and costly.
“A proportion of these costs may need to be passed on to the consumer, which may impact the likelihood of consumers switching to lower sodium alternatives.”
Halal Law in Indonesia implemented for food industry in full force
Indonesia started to formally enforce its national Halal Law in October 2024, mandating all food and beverage products being traded in the market (except those on a pre-approved Positive List) to be halal-certified.
This has been made a mandatory requirement for all medium and large businesses in Indonesia, but small and micro businesses have a further two-year extension until October 2026.
Nonetheless, the scale at which this regulation has been enforced in South East Asia’s largest market is expected to make waves in the region’s food sector, and Indonesia has already highlighted ambitions to make the most of its new policy.
“Indonesia sees this as a golden opportunity for the local food industry to not only be a halal leader but also capture further growth on a larger scale,” Halal Product Assurance Organizing Body (BPJPH) Halal Registration and Certification Center Head Dr H. Mamat Salamet Burhanudin said.
“It has become increasingly clear that food products entering Indonesia are seeking to become halal-certified whether or not they are required to (i.e. those already on the Positive List), and this shows that halal certification is moving well beyond religious implications, but also providing an economic and trade advantage.
“Successfully going through the halal certification process can add value to these products, as this is a stringent process, and foods which achieve the certification have an added assurance of safety and quality.”
In addition to being the largest market in South East Asia by population, Indonesia also tops the list globally in terms of having the biggest Muslim consumer spend.
The government also launched a new Foreign Halal Certification Registration System earlier this year focused on international companies exporting into the market. The aim is to improve the efficiency of the halal certification process for firms which already have halal certification by their authorised local certification bodies.
These local certification bodies must be Overseas Halal Institutions that have completed Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) with BPJPH, and products certified halal by these institutions will no longer need to go through an additional local certification process after using the foreign system above.
Australia’s new genetically modified foods definition could open doors to more products
Australia has been making efforts to improve the governance and acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods locally for several years, and though the COVID-19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works, things appear to finally be moving back on track.
The first item to come under scrutiny is a new definition for GM foods, which was proposed back in 2020 and finally expected to be gazetted in 2025 after the conclusion of public comment submissions in September 2024.
Under the new definition, foods that do not contain novel DNA will not be considered genetically modified, even though they may have been processed via new breeding techniques (NBTs).
As such, only foods that contain novel DNA – namely those with DNA inserted from a non-crossable species, with a new arrangement of DNA from a crossable species, or DNA not from an existing species – would be considered genetically modified.
This would mean that even if foods contain DNA that has been inserted from other crossable species, or have DNA changes resulting from conventional methods and genome editing, these will no longer be considered genetically modified foods and will not need to be labelled as such.
According to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), this will allow for an ‘outcomes-based approach’ that is more straightforward and less confusing for governance.
“Moving to an outcomes-based approach based on the presence of novel DNA in the organism from which the food for sale is derived provides a clear and objective measure to determine if a food is a GM food,” FSANZ CEO Dr Sandra Cuthbert said.
“Novel DNA is either present in the organism or it is not. This will assist product developers to comply with local regulations and jurisdictions to implement, interpret and enforce Code requirements.”
This also indicates the potential for Australia and New Zealand to welcome more GM foods into the market as ‘regular’ foods presenting a ‘low risk’ of food safety concerns requiring additional safety assessments, opening up the region’s doors to increased trade.
“Our assessment has concluded that when a food derived using NBTs is equivalent in its characteristics to food derived through conventional breeding, it also presents the same low risk,” said the agency.
“Because of its low risk, a pre-market safety assessment by FSANZ is not needed, and such food should therefore not be considered GM food for Code purposes.”
India needs to move beyond regulatory adjustments to improve local food safety compliance
India has had a longstanding uphill battle when it comes to improving its reputation for food safety, despite several years of battling issues such as food fraud and adulteration.
One of the reasons for this has been compliance at the level of manufacturers and retailers, given the enormous size of India as well as the many thousands of shops from mom-and-pop stores to e-commerce retailers in the market, and the pre-existence of a traditional non-organised industry for staples like dairy and oil.
Local food safety enforcement agency Food Safety and Standards Authority India (FSSAI) has been taking steps to mandate further compliance in India, and believes that food firms selling online via e-commerce are a major food safety gap that needs to be addressed.
For instance, the agency has upgraded local compliance requirements for these firms, including a minimum shelf life of 30% or 45 days before expiry of all food products sold at the time of delivery to the consumer.
However, local experts believe that simply updating regulations and issuing mandates may not be sufficient to make a major mark on local food safety issues, given that compliance and behaviour would need to be addressed first.
“Compliance, awareness, and resources are inadequate, particularly for small and medium businesses,” food safety auditing firm Equinox Labs CEO Ashwin Bhadri said.
“Many businesses lack clarity or awareness about why FSSAI licensing is critical [especially in the non-organised sector], and without proper licensing, they miss out on credibility, consumer trust [and] structured training programmes, which further highlight a limited focus on educating staff about safety and hygiene practices.
“Irregular or non-existent quality checks - such as water testing, medical testing of staff, and temperature monitoring - create vulnerabilities that can compromise food safety, and these gaps are especially prevalent in businesses operating without rigorous compliance frameworks.
“This is not to mention inconsistent raw material handling, unclear labelling practices, and inadequate audits [that affect the delivery of] safe and high-quality food to consumers.
“It is crucial to address these gaps to not only enhance safety but also help businesses build reliability and competitiveness in the market.”
