• Fields of Europe is a framework for verifying European origin, sustainability and non-GMO origin of arable crops, feed and food products all the way through the supply chain. Fields of Europe was created by ADM, Ameropa, Royal Agrifirm Group, BFA, Donau Soja, Fenaco and Nevedi to respond to the growing demand for sustainable, European food and feed products and the absence of a clear definition of what European sourcing entails.

     

    Fields of Europe aims to be an open coalition for food and feed companies to make use of and further develop the European sourcing framework.

  • Standard

    There is an increasing demand for European food products. Currently, food and feed companies are defining and verifying European origin in their own way. The notion of ‘from Europe’ brings a feeling of sustainability and quality resulting from European Union legislation, however Europe is bigger than the European Union alone.

     

    Hence there is a clear need for one framework to define European origin and its attributes for the entire market – to create a level playing field and improve sustainable agricultural production on a large scale. Fields of Europe provides such a framework and is build upon 3 pillars.

     

    Download the standard: English version / German version / French version

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    Origin

    Europe is defined as continental Europe, reflecting the daily reality of agricultural supply chains.

     

    The different supply chain models for food and feed ingredients and products are defined under this pillar as well.

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    Sustainability

    The sustainability pillar is based on European legislation for farmers in the area of soil, water, biodiversity, chemicals, fertilizers and labour and human rights.

     

    The goal is to create a level playing field on the European continent for sustainable practices in agriculture.

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    Non-gmo

    The non-gmo pillar is added because almost all arable production in the European Union is non-gmo and non-gmo origin of crops and ingredients is an important attribute of European production. The leading non-gmo verification systems such as VLOG and ARGE are our reference.

  • Verification

    Fields of Europe aims to be more than a standard document; it is a framework that includes a risk-assessment to determine the adequate verification regime for different ingredients, it includes agreements with certification systems to verify whether all criteria are met and it includes stakeholder engagement and outreach to create awareness of credible European sourcing.

     

    One of the core principles for verification is that Fields of Europe builds upon what is already there at different levels of the supply chains. First collection points and traders already work with sustainability certification, trade and processing facilities are already certified to deliver non-gmo ingredients and compound feed facilities are audited on an annual basis on safety, quality and sustainability aspects. Fields of Europe makes use of what is already there in order for companies to efficiently claim European origin. That means that verification is outsourced to existing standards with an additional check by the Fields of Europe office.

    Benchmark

    It is expected that existing certification systems adequately verify (a part of) the requirements. A system for benchmarking existing standards to the Fields of Europe requirements will be created to assess which systems can be used to show compliance to (part of the) requirements. Standard owners can self-assess using the benchmark framework of Fields of Europe and send their assessment in for a final check and approval. The self-assessment method will become available via this website.

  • Consultation

    From 22 July to 30 October, an open stakeholder consultation was organised to review the standard document. Participation is not longer possible, although feedback can always be shared with the group via email. We received valuable input by 40 organisations. The feedback is included in the new version of the standard, that can be found on this page.

  • Resources

    Fields of Europe has prepared its standard and a number of short documents that explain more about the initiative. These documents can be found in this resources section.

    1

    Standard document

    This is the updated standard document as it was prepared by the coalition of founding companies and organisations and updated after a stakeholder consultation in 2020. The document includes the scope, criteria and information about verification.

     

    English version

    2

    This document introduces Fields of Europe via a series of questions and answers. If your question is not on the list, feel free to reach out to obtain your answer.

     

    English version

    3

    Brochure

    This short brochure elaborates on the Fields of Europe project and gives all relevant information about the project and possible ways to participate.

     

    English version

  • News

  • Join us!

    The group of founding members take seat in the steering committee. This committee meets once every two months to discuss progress. New companies are very welcome to join the initiative and take place in the user group and ad-hoc working groups.

     

    The annual participation fee is based on the position in the supply chain and the annual turn-over. More information on joining can be obtained via the secretariat.

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