The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated in 2011 that nearly a third of the world’s food production, about 1.3 billion tons, is lost. A study on the redistribution of food surpluses in EU member states was conducted in June 2020, according to which the most valuable use of food surpluses is redistributed in food.
This serves a dual purpose: fight poverty and reduce energy and destruction costs – at least that’s what the proposal is all about.
The purpose of amending the law before Parliament is specifically to prevent food waste by requiring food retailers to provide food with a close shelf life to those in need.
Under the proposal
From 1 February 2022 It will be mandatory for food retailers to provide food close to expiry date with a shelf life to those in need (those with annual sales revenue from food chain supervision activities of less than HUF 100 billion), and for all other food businesses it will be voluntary. This will be done under the coordination of the newly created Food Rescue Center (hereinafter: ECM), a 100% state-owned company.
There may be heavy fines
It is also important to note that the government will impose penalties on food chains if they fail to meet their obligations. According to the document presented, a fine can be imposed if:
- The person concerned exceeded the planned amount of annual food waste by more than 2 percent,
- Or did they provide a plan to reduce food waste.
The amount of the fine starts from HUF 15,000 and can go up to 0.6 percent of the supervision fee for the previous working year.
They also raise the retail tax
According to the bill, an increase in the retail tax rate may take effect during the tax year for some taxpayers.
Therefore, the bill states that the higher tax rate applies only to the performance of the tax year following the effective date of the rate increase. If the proposal is adopted, the current 2.5 percent tax rate will rise to 2.7 percent.