The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) did not pronounce itself on the safety of genetically modified (GM) maize 98140 after the applicant failed to supply sufficient data on the plant’s characteristics, such as its composition and appearance.

The European Parliament agreed on 17th April to extend by nine months until 1st October 2014 the preferential trade access provided to 17 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries that will have not ratified the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU.

On 27th May the new Export Helpdesk – available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese- will be launched, the European Commission informs.

The European Commission has published on March 18 proposals to provide transitional arrangements in 2014 for certain Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) rules, notably the system of Direct Payments.

The European Commission has released the March 2013 edition of ”Comodity price data”, a price dashboard which provides a summary of commodity price data for the most representative agricultural products and consumer food prices, at EU and world level for the month of March.