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On June 10, 2022, the Dutch Minister for Nitrogen and Nature Policy, Ms. Christianne van der Wal, presented a plan laying out the objectives for Dutch nitrogen greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. The plan included both national and area-specific objectives .

The Netherlands is increasingly becoming one of Europe’s leading importers and exporters of seafood products. The United States was the Netherlands’ 15th largest foreign supplier of seafood in 2021. U.S. exports were dominated by frozen Alaskan Pollock (AP) which represented two-thirds of U.S. seafood trade to the Netherlands.

On April 22, 2022, the Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy, Rob Jetten, laid out the Dutch government’s policy for the application of biomass to the Dutch Parliament.

Since October 2021, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality has reported 37 findings of avian influenza at commercial poultry farms in the Netherlands. One of the most recent findings is in the municipality of Barneveld, which is considered the poultry capital of the Netherlands. Both the global Covid-19 crisis and local avian influenza outbreaks have had a negative effect on Dutch exports.

The turnover of the Dutch food processing industry for 2021 is forecast at $88 billion. Food companies that traditionally sell to HRI-foodservice outlets saw sales drop by roughly one-third due to the global pandemic.

In 2019, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport announced a new nutrition labeling scheme for the Netherlands. Nutri-Score, an invention commissioned by French public health agency Santé Publique, would become the new voluntary front-of-pack nutrition label of choice in the Netherlands.

On January 10, 2022, the King of the Netherlands swore in the new Dutch Cabinet of twenty Ministers and nine State Secretaries. The new Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality is Henk Staghouwer. He is member of the Christian Union (CU), a protestant party, with a left wing orientation on environmental issues.

On December 15, 2021, four Dutch political parties reached an accord, nine months after elections were held in the Netherlands. Some of the highest priority issues for the incoming government are combating climate change and tackling nitrogen emissions.

The Netherlands, as a Member State of the European Union (EU), conforms to all EU regulations and directives. However, rules for the certification of imports are complicated and, in practice, are not always harmonized across EU Member States.

This report is an addendum to GAIN report number E42021-0072, the EU Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) Report, dated October 12, 2021. It is meant to be read in tandem with the aforementioned report and lists the Dutch import regulations and standards that are not harmonized within the EU, or where the Netherlands varies from the EU standards.

In an effort to address global warming, the European Union (EU) and its Member States have established targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have already cut their emissions by 25 to 45 percent since 1990.

The exporter guide provides an economic and market overview, as well as demographic trends and practical tips to U.S. exporters on how to conduct business in the Netherlands. The report additionally describes three market sectors (food retail, food...