Article 9a — Prevention of food waste generation

1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to prevent the generation of food waste along the entire food supply chain, in primary production, in processing and manufacturing, in retail and other distribution of food, in restaurants and food services as well as in households. Those measures shall include at least the following: (a) developing and supporting behavioural change interventions to reduce food waste, and information campaigns to raise awareness about food waste prevention; (b) identifying and addressing inefficiencies in the functioning of the food supply chain and supporting cooperation amongst all actors, while ensuring a fair distribution of costs and benefits of prevention measures, which may include tackling market practices that cause food waste and supporting the marketing and use of products for which a derogation from Article 76 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 13 ) was granted pursuant to paragraph 4 of that Article, only under the conditions, if any, subject to which such a derogation was granted; (c) encouraging food donation and other redistribution for human consumption, ensuring the prioritisation of human use over animal feed and the reprocessing into non-food products; (d) supporting training and skills development as well as facilitating access to funding opportunities, in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises and social economy entities; (e) encouraging and promoting innovation and technological solutions which contribute to the prevention of food waste, without prejudice to Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 14 ), and in particular Article 6 thereof. Member States shall ensure that all relevant actors in the food supply chain are involved proportionately to their capacity and role in preventing the generation of food waste along that supply chain, with a specific focus on preventing a disproportionate impact on small and medium-sized enterprises. Member States shall, after consulting with food banks and other food redistribution organisations, take measures, where appropriate, on the basis of any existing national food donation system, to ensure that economic operators identified by Member States as having a significant role in the prevention and generation of food waste, propose donation agreements to food banks and to other food redistribution organisations so as to facilitate the donation of unsold food that is safe for human consumption, and at a reasonable cost to economic operators. 2. Member States shall monitor and assess the implementation of their food waste prevention measures, including compliance with the food waste reduction targets referred to in paragraph 4, by measuring the levels of food waste on the basis of the methodology established in accordance with paragraph 3. 3. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 38a to supplement this Directive as regards laying down a common methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of food waste levels. 4. Member States shall take the necessary and appropriate measures to achieve, by 31 December 2030, the following food waste reduction targets at national level: (a) reduction of the generation of food waste in processing and manufacturing by 10 % in comparison to the amount of food waste generated as an annual average between 2021 and 2023; (b) reduction of the generation of food waste per capita, jointly in retail and other distribution of food, in restaurants and food services and in households, by 30 % in comparison to the amount of food waste generated as an annual average between 2021 and 2023. 5. Where, in relation to the food waste reduction targets, a Member State is able to provide data for a year prior to 2021 which have been collected using methods set out in Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597 ( 15 ) or, for years before 2020, using methods comparable to the methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of levels of food waste as set out in that Delegated Decision, the Member State may use an earlier year as the reference period. By 17 April 2027 the Member State shall notify the Commission and the other Member States of its intention to use an earlier year and, for a year prior to 2020, shall provide the Commission with the data and measurement methods used to collect them and make those data and measurement methods publicly available. 6. In order to support Member States to achieve the food waste reduction target provided for in paragraph 4, point (b), by 17 October 2027, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts establishing a correction factor to account for the increase or decrease in tourism in relation to the reference period for the setting of the food waste reduction target. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 39(2). 7. When the Commission considers that the data related to a year prior to 2020 do not comply with the conditions set out in paragraph 5, it shall, within six months of receipt of a notification made in accordance with that paragraph, adopt a decision requesting the Member State to use an annual average between 2021 and 2023, 2020, or a year prior to 2020 other than that proposed by that Member State as the reference period. 8. By 31 December 2027, the Commission shall review the targets to be reached by 2030, laid down in paragraph 4, with a view, if appropriate, to modifying those targets and/or extending targets to other stages of the food supply chain, and to considering setting new targets beyond 2030. The review referred to in the first subparagraph shall include: (a) an assessment of the extent and causes of food waste and losses in primary production and an identification and an assessment of feasibility of appropriate levers to reduce such waste and losses; (b) an assessment of the possibility to introduce legally binding targets with respect to paragraph 4, points (a) and (b), to be reached by 2035; and (c) an assessment of the impact of changes in production levels on the achievability of food waste reduction target with respect to paragraph 4, point (a). The Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council, accompanied, if appropriate, by a legislative proposal. 9. Member States shall coordinate their actions to prevent food waste and share best practices, including through the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste.

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Source: EUR-Lex CELLAR · retrieved 2026-08-09