Browse Data and Analysis

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 lists the recent developments related to Dutch import requirements for the certification of agricultural and food imports.

This report is intended to supplement the FAS U.S. Mission to the EU's Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) report with Italy-specific information. Italy's FAIRS provides contact information for the competent authorities that are responsible for the import of animal, plant, fish, and food products into the Italian market.

This report is intended to supplement the FAS U.S. Mission to the EU's Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) Certificate report with Italy-specific information. The U.S. export certification requirements for most products of animal and plant origin destined for the EU and Italy have been harmonized. The few products not yet harmonized are subject to Italian regulations which can be found in this report.

The implementation of a much-debated deposit scheme for metal cans in the Netherlands has been delayed until April 1, 2023, due to information technology challenges surrounding the deposit system and an insufficient number of machines to press returned cans.

A Value Added Tax (VAT) of zero percent for vegetables and fruit was part of the 2021 Dutch government's coalition agreement. Realizing this VAT reduction, however, has been met with several challenges pertaining to efficiency, efficacy, and feasibility.

The exporter guide provides an economic and market overview, as well as demographic trends and practical tips for U.S. exporters on how to conduct business in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands will increase an existing tax on beverages as of January 1, 2023. This is envisioned to have a suppressing effect on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. In parallel, the Dutch government is exploring a progressive tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.

This report offers information for U.S. companies interested in exporting agri-food products to Italy, including an overview of the country's economic situation, market structure, export requirements, and best product export opportunities.

This report assesses the agricultural biotechnology sector in the Netherlands, and covers related production, trade, and policies. It includes topics related to genetic engineering and innovative plant, animal, and microbial biotechnologies.

This report describes production, trade, research, policy, and marketing issues of genetically engineered (GE) plants, animal products, and microbial biotechnology in Italy. Despite Italy’s opposition to GE products, the Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry Policies, along with leading farmers’ associations (Coldiretti, Confagricoltura, and Cia), agri-food industry players, and scientists have come forward in favor of innovative biotechnologies, such as genome editing.

After a summer of Dutch farmer protests, a much-anticipated independent report was presented to the government and public on October 5, 2022. In it, the government-appointed independent facilitator and former politician, Johan Remkes, presented his findings from talks he held with the government, the Dutch agricultural sector, industry, nature organizations, and others.

On October 3, 2022, the Dutch government announced Mr. Piet Adema has been named the new Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality. Mr. Adema replaces Henk Staghouwer who resigned in September after he informed the Dutch Cabinet and Parliament about his Ministry’s delay in providing a plan for the future outlook of the Dutch agricultural sector and after he failed to obtain Brussels’ permission to continue to exceed caps on how much manure farmers can apply to their fields.