• Law no. 217/2016 regarding the reduction of food waste was republished in the Official Gazette no. 418/ 08.05.2024, with subsequent amendments and additions.
Law 217 regulates ensuring the fulfillment of the sustainable development objectives assumed at the European and international level by Romania, regarding the prevention and reduction of food waste, an objective pursued by all economic operators in the agri-food sector.
The purpose of the law, as stipulated in the official act, is to establish measures to prevent and reduce food waste and related promotion actions, in order to increase the use and valorization of food along the agri-food chain.
The normative act provides for the measures that must be implemented by economic operators in order to reduce food waste as follows:
a) accountability measures to reduce food waste in the agri-food chain, starting with the production, processing, storage, distribution and marketing of food, including in the hotel industry and food services sector;
b) measures regarding the reduced price sale of products close to the expiry date, according to the legislation in force;
c) measures for the redistribution of food by free transfer, for human consumption, to the receiving operators, in accordance with the provisions established in chapter V of annex no. II to Regulation (EC) no. 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 29, 2004 regarding the hygiene of food products, with subsequent amendments and additions, as well as measures regarding the redistribution of food, by transfer, for human consumption, to economic operators;
d) measures for the use and consumption of food products in animal feed, until the expiration of their validity period, in compliance with the sanitary and veterinary legislation in the field of animal nutrition;
Other applicable strategies
e) measures for directing products of animal origin that have become unfit for human consumption to registered users in order to use category 3 material for feeding animals in shelters, according to the provisions of Regulation (EC) no. 1.069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 21, 2009 establishing sanitary rules regarding animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC) no. 1.774/2002 (Regulation on by-products of animal origin), with subsequent amendments and additions,
and of Regulation (EU) no. 142/2011 of the Commission of February 25, 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) no. 1.069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing sanitary rules regarding animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and implementing Directive no. 97/78/EC of the Council with regard to certain samples and products which are exempted from sanitary-veterinary border controls in accordance with the said directive, as amended and supplemented;
f) measures for directing agri-food products that have become unfit for human or animal consumption in order to capitalize them by turning them into compost, according to the provisions of Regulation (EC) no. 1.069/2009, with subsequent amendments and additions, as well as Regulation (EU) no. 142/2011, with subsequent amendments and additions;
Possibility of waste transformation
g) measures for directing agri-food products that have become unfit for human or animal consumption in order to capitalize on them by transforming them into biogas, according to the provisions of Regulation (EC) no. 1.069/2009, with subsequent amendments and additions, and Regulation (EU) no. 142/2011,
with subsequent amendments;
h) measures for directing animal by-products not intended for human consumption to an authorized processing unit in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) no. 1.069/2009, with subsequent amendments and additions, and Regulation (EU) no. 142/2011, with subsequent amendments and additions;
i) in the case of the measures provided for in letter f)—h) the legislation on environmental protection, in force, is applied;
j) measures for the elimination and use of animal by-products and derived products, category 3 materials, according to the provisions of Regulation (EC) no. 1.069/2009, with subsequent amendments and additions, as well as Regulation (EU) no. 142/2011, with subsequent amendments and additions, under the conditions provided by the sanitary-veterinary legislation in force.
Article source: Official Gazette Part I no. 418/08.05.2024
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
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