EU guidelines on food donation

Document type
Recipient profiles
Country
EU

As part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, the European Commission has adopted EU food donation guidelines in order to facilitate the recovery and redistribution of safe, edible food to those in need.

Developed in consultation with the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste, the EU food donation guidelines seek to:

  • facilitate compliance of providers and recipients of surplus food with relevant requirements laid down in the EU regulatory framework (e.g. food safety, food hygiene, traceability, liability, VAT, etc.);
  • promote common interpretation by regulatory authorities in the EU Member States of EU rules applying to the redistribution of surplus food.