The European Parliament has called on the Commission to take measures to halve the amount of food waste in the EU by 2030.

Lifting restrictions that hinder food donations and clarifying the definitions of the “best before” and “use by” terms on labelling, were two measures recommended by the Parliament.

“In developed countries food is wasted mostly at the end of the chain, at distribution and consumption. Everyone has a responsibility to tackle this problem”, said MEP Biljana Borzan.

EU food waste is currently estimated at 88m tonnes each year, equating to 173kg per person.

MEPs voted 623 to 33 in a non-legislative resolution on Tuesday to support a report by Borzan which recommends targets to be set to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030 with a 30% target by 2025.

Understand

“My report calls for a coordinated policy response on labelling, liability and education, as most consumers do not understand the precise meaning of “best before” and “use by” labelling,” the Croatian MEP said.

Most food can be eaten after the “best before” date and the Commission have been asked to assess the benefit of reducing certain dates from labels without risking public health.

MEPs also called for the Commission to change the VAT Directive which would allow tax exemptions on food donations and for an EU aid fund to be used to finance the cost of distributing food donations.