Reading Time: 5 minutes As the cost of spraying crops with pesticides becomes increasingly expensive, farmers in Greece's agricultural heartland have turned to a cheaper alternative: liquids in unlabeled plastic bottles smuggled over land and sea.

Europe’s illegal pesticide trade surges as farmers cut costs
At least 14 per cent of pesticides used on EU fields today are illegal

EU farmers raise alarm over Mercosur, Ukraine trade deals
Comments come ahead of visit by Brazil’s Lula
Reading Time: 2 minutes French and Spanish farmers warned on Wednesday that a flood of imports under planned European Union trade agreements with South American bloc Mercosur and Ukraine risked severely undermining European agriculture.

Global rapeseed/canola production dips in April report
USDA lowers output for EU, India
Reading Time: < 1 minute World production of rapeseed/canola for 2024/25 was trimmed by almost 0.53 per cent on April 10, when the United States Department of Agriculture released its World Agricultural Production report.

European wheat to benefit from U.S.-China trade war: Strategie Grains
U.S. trade war could make EU wheat more attractive to China
Reading Time: 2 minutes European Union soft wheat is set to benefit from the escalating trade war between the United States and China, consultancy Strategie Grains said, as it raised its output estimates for all major EU cereals this year due to improved growing conditions.

France pushes for farming ’emergency brake’ in Mercosur deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Despite previous reservations, France held a meeting with 10 EU countries to discuss a possible trade deal with Latin America's Mercosur bloc, a day after the United States unleashed a global trade war, signalling it may be a way for the bloc to offset the impact of U.S. tariffs on European exports.

EU plans to restrict imported crops treated with banned pesticides, draft shows
Reading Time: 2 minutes The European Union is planning tougher restrictions on imported crops treated with pesticides banned in Europe, a draft European Commission document showed, a move that would impact suppliers including the U.S.

Canada seeks stronger EU trade ties as both regions threatened by Trump tariffs
Critical minerals, smaller businesses among priorities, trade minister says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada wants to deepen its economic ties with the EU and uphold global trading rules in the face of threatened U.S. tariffs, its trade minister Mary Ng told Reuters on Saturday.

EU plans simpler rules for billions worth of farm subsidies, draft shows
Reading Time: 2 minutes The European Union is drawing up plans to simplify rules governing its huge farming subsidy programme, draft documents seen by Reuters showed, as Brussels races to lighten the regulatory burden on local businesses.

EU agencies track bird flu virus variants on increasing threat to humans
Reading Time: < 1 minute Two European regulators said on Wednesday they were tracking variants of the bird flu virus due to the threat of the pathogen adapting to spread between humans and triggering future pandemics.

EU and Mexico revive stalled trade deal as Trump tariffs loom
The two parties are seeking to add farm produce, services, investment and other goods to the agreement
Reading Time: 2 minutes The European Union and Mexico revived a stalled free trade agreement on Friday, days before the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who has threatened both sides with tariffs.