PREAMBLE

One of the first external manifestations of a nation's socioeconomic development is the abundance of food. For centuries, unstable harvests and animal and plant health problems, backwardness in the means of production, the impossibility of separating oneself from climatic, geographical, and natural factors, deficiencies in productive, transportation, storage, and marketing structures, and market inefficiencies produced frequent mortality and economic ruin, forced emigration, and reduced the development capacity of many societies. The developed world today produces food in sufficient quantity and quality for the majority of its population, allowing for adequate distribution and at a reasonable price. Despite these advances, hunger is still a real threat and a daily hardship for millions of people around the world.

I

Food loss and waste are a sign of inefficient food systems and a lack of social awareness. Without prejudice to food security, significant levels of food loss and waste occur throughout the entire food chain, from production to consumption. Between the post-harvest and retail stages alone, up to 14% of the world's food is lost, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2019. Food loss and waste can originate from a wide range of factors, including the use of inappropriate inputs in production activities; errors in planning and scheduling harvesting tasks; the use of inappropriate production, harvesting, and handling practices; deficiencies in storage and temperature control for perishable products; inadequate marketing conditions and techniques at the retail stage; poor practices by food service providers; Inappropriate consumer behavior during food purchasing, preparation, and consumption; lack of or insufficient equipment, transportation, and storage capacity; inadequate organization, coordination, or communication between stakeholders in the food chain; and insufficient infrastructure.

Therefore, drastically reducing this volume of food loss and waste is a moral imperative for public authorities and supply chain operators.

But it's not just these much-needed foodstuffs that are wasted, but also the significant resources used to produce them, the enormous human, technical, and economic efforts invested, and the added value achieved with so much work and dedication. This waste disrupts the value chains of the primary sector, hinders the economic development of many regions and operators, especially in rural areas, and wastes investment that cannot be used for other purposes. This waste of resources has been estimated to represent an economic loss equivalent to $936 billion per year (more than €728 billion per year), according to the FAO studies "Mitigation of Food Waste: Societal Costs and Benefits" (2014) and "Food Waste Footprint: Full-Cost Accounting. Final Report. 2014."

Furthermore, they often represent an unnoticed burden on environmental policy, as wasted food generates a high water and carbon footprint. According to the report "Greenhouse gas emissions in the agri-food system and the carbon footprint of food in Spain" (Aguilera, E., Piñero, P., Infante Amate, J., González de Molina, M., Lassaletta, L., Sanz Cobeña, A., 2020), overall, food waste is responsible for a quarter of the total emissions from the agri-food system, which in absolute terms represents around one ton of CO2e per capita per year. Wasted food adds an unaffordable opportunity cost in terms of resources employed, as it absorbs a huge amount of inputs that will not bear fruit and prevents land use for other purposes (two million hectares have been deforested to produce food that has not been consumed). Nearly 30% of the world's agricultural land is used annually to produce food that is lost or wasted. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on "Climate Change and Land," published in August 2019, "Reducing food loss and waste can reduce GHG emissions and contribute to adaptation by reducing the land area needed for food production. From 2010 to 2016, global food loss and waste contributed between 8% and 10% of total anthropogenic GHG emissions. Currently, between 25% and 30% of all food produced is lost or wasted."

Food loss and waste therefore represent an irreparable breach in terms of social justice, environmental protection, and economic growth, all in vain.

In this sense, Spain is a clear example of the transition from an eminently agrarian society to an urbanized one, and the tertiary sector. The rejection of food waste is a traditional concern closely linked to agrarian societies, and among us, the Pragmatic of May 15, 1584 (recorded as Law I, Title XX; Book VII of the Novísima Recopilación) already mandated that "when there is a lot of bread in the granary, and it is necessary to renew it due to abundance, so that it does not go to waste, the City Councils must order that it be loaned to willing individuals, with guarantees that they will return it to the granary at the following harvest." The improvement in productive and logistical capacities, intense social and consumer changes, urbanization and new ways of life, and the reduced dependence on natural factors have modified the productive reality and shifted a significant part of the problem of loss and waste to later links in the supply chain. Thus, even though pockets of poverty still exist in all developed societies, the vast majority of their citizens have access to sufficient, quality food. Therefore, both the perceived risk of losing this privileged position and new consumption patterns have led them to forget the fragility of abundance and discard vast quantities of food. This reality weakens the national economy, increases the opportunity costs of both professionals and consumers, imposes greater burdens on its proper treatment, and generates significant negative externalities. While the most vulnerable in developed societies have real problems accessing a varied and sufficient diet, the poorest countries suffer the social and health problems derived from hunger or malnutrition, particularly serious among children. However, the strength of our agri-food sector has always demonstrated ample capacity for adaptation and modernization and has ensured, even in the most difficult times, the timely supply of high-quality food, the retention of population in rural areas, the contribution to environmental and landscape preservation, and the protection of defining cultural traits such as gastronomy. Our country's commitment to combating food loss and waste seems essential, as a logical corollary of these values and the responsibility of both the various links in the food chain and third-sector entities. It also reflects our socioeconomic evolution. It is therefore imperative that the most developed nations not forget their past or their obligations to those who most need a decisive commitment to a better world.

II

Spanish and European society, as well as national and EU institutions, have not remained unaware of the situation affecting food loss and waste at all stages of the food chain, calling for measures to prevent and reduce food loss and waste. These measures will provide a significant opportunity to secure food supply, reduce environmental risks, conserve non-renewable resources for other uses, and avoid economic losses. Consequently, public authorities have begun to become aware of the problem and are gradually taking action to put an end to this unsustainable situation, as far as possible.

At the international level, the High-Level Forum of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations held in Rome in 2009 adopted the document "How to Feed the World by 2050", which highlighted the need to increase food production to meet the growing demands of a growing population and the urgent need to address food loss and waste, a missed opportunity to feed the world, especially by improving the nutrition of the poorest populations, while containing the use of finite natural resources and biodegradable waste management.

To raise awareness of this problem, September 29 was declared the International Day Against Food Waste.

Within this framework, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 of the 2030 Agenda stipulates in target 3 that by 2030, we must "halve per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains." This goal is closely linked to others such as SDG 2 "Zero Hunger," SDG 11 "Sustainable Cities and Communities," and SDG 13 "Climate Action," as well as SDGs 14 and 15 (related to life below water and ecosystems), and constitutes a cross-cutting element of international action in this area.

Likewise, the G20 Agriculture Ministers met in Istanbul in 2015 to address the growing challenges of securing food supplies. They expressed "grave concern about the significant extent of food loss and waste throughout food value chains" and its economic, environmental, and social significance. They agreed to establish sustainable food systems by reducing food loss and waste. A "G20 Action Plan on Food Security/Sustainable Food Systems" was later presented within the framework of the meeting as a guide for its members.

The fight against food waste is therefore crucial within the framework of the multilateral approach to secure food supply, which the FAO defines as the situation where all people have permanent physical, social, and economic access to safe, nutritious food in sufficient quantities to satisfy their nutritional needs and food preferences, allowing them to lead active and healthy lives. To achieve this, it has proposed, among other measures, the creation of a platform to reduce losses and waste through a set of coherent recommendations throughout the supply chain. These include avoiding production and harvest losses through technically, socioeconomically, and environmentally sustainable practices; ensuring adequate storage and processing facilities and means, developing capacities and ensuring the availability of efficient raw materials and technologies; improving labeling and marketing techniques, generating safe and nutritious foods that are not wasted or discarded; improving informed behavior and sustainable consumption; and reducing waste throughout the entire food chain, including the HORECA channel and households.

The 2011 FAO study on Global Food Losses and Waste – Extent, Causes and Prevention was a true turning point in raising global awareness on this issue. The study's results suggest that one-third of food production is lost or wasted, equivalent to 1.3 billion tons per year: "Huge amounts of the resources used for food production are used in vain, and greenhouse gas emissions caused by the production of food that is lost or wasted are also emissions in vain."

The study found a significant difference between food loss patterns in wealthy countries, where most food is lost at the consumption stage, even when it comes to suitable food, as a result of consumer behavior and a lack of coordination between different actors in the supply chain, and in poor countries, where food is lost primarily during the initial and intermediate stages of the supply chain due to economic, technical, and management constraints related to harvesting, storage facilities and refrigeration in harsh climatic conditions, infrastructure, packaging, and marketing systems.

Proof of this is that in the European Union, it is estimated that 40% of waste is concentrated in the consumer sector and the same amount in processing and manufacturing, while 15% is in the catering sector and 5% in distribution.

The Union has been approving a series of initiatives to combat these practices. In 2010, the Commission prepared the pioneering "Preparatory Study on Food Waste in the EU-27" as a first approach to the situation.

The European Parliament's resolution of 19 January 2012 on "Avoiding food waste: strategies to improve the efficiency of the EU food supply chain" marked the first milestone on this path. Parliament noted that at that time, there were 79 million people living below the poverty line in the EU, 16 million of whom received food aid from charitable organizations.

Institutions, states, and supply chain operators were urged to address the waste problem by raising ethical, economic, social, nutritional, and health-related issues, as well as environmental and health consequences (food waste contributes significantly to global warming due to the methane gas it generates, whose greenhouse effect is 21 times greater than that of carbon dioxide), thereby improving efficiency and incorporating it into European public policies, taking measures to halve food waste by 2025 while preventing the generation of bio-waste.

The resolution "considers it imperative to reduce food waste along the entire food chain, from the field to the consumer's table" by adopting "a coordinated strategy, followed by concrete actions at European level, including the exchange of best practices..., fostering direct relationships between producers and consumers and shortening food supply chains, calling on all stakeholders to assume greater shared responsibilities and encouraging them to intensify coordination in order to continue improving logistics, transport, stock management and packaging" given that the causes of waste are diverse: "excess production, poor product packaging (poorly designed size or shape), deterioration of the product or packaging, marketing standards (appearance problems or defective packaging), and poor stock management or inappropriate commercial strategies".

The resolution "stresses that agriculture, by its very nature, is resource-efficient and can play a vital, leading role in combating food waste" and calls for taking this into account in policy proposals, establishing a harmonised definition of waste, investing in research, promoting education and reviewing quality requirements for external appearance, both those imposed by European or national legislation and by internal company rules, recalling that the Commission's study on consumer empowerment in the European Union (SEC(2011)0469) concluded that 18% of European citizens do not understand the phrase "Best before...".

Years later, the European Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on the "Resource Efficiency Initiative: Reducing Food Waste, Improving Food Safety" (2017), which emphasizes both the problem and the solutions, recalling the need to take urgent, effective and coordinated measures to reduce it and set concrete objectives.

Among the measures included in this document, it is worth highlighting the need to carry out awareness-raising activities and communication campaigns; it sets a target for reducing food waste in the EU of 30% by 2025 and 50% by 2030; it emphasizes the potential for optimizing the use of lost or discarded food and by-products in animal feed production, nutrient recycling, and the production of soil improvers; it proposes rethinking the "use-by" and "best before" indicators and identifying logistical and organizational models that allow for the safe recovery of products that have not been sold by that date; it encourages households by promoting a weekly day dedicated to using leftovers and by creating markets to sell products that are normally excluded; it highlights the potential of social innovation projects, such as the collection and donation of surplus food to food aid associations and the promotion of short marketing chains; It suggests passing "Good Samaritan legislation," but keeping in mind that food donations do not solve the main problems of poverty and must be subject to controls so that they are not diverted to create an alternative market. It also recommends including in restaurant tenders the obligation to have food waste reduction and management plans, and that operators assume their share of responsibility and implement the joint declaration on food waste, Every Crumb Counts, and the retail sector agreement on waste.

In 2016, several initiatives were adopted in this direction, from different perspectives and institutions, but converging on a shared objective. On the one hand, the EU Platform on Food Losses and Waste was launched, enabling an effective exchange of experiences and best practices between states and stakeholders. On the other hand, the Circular Economy Action Plan was adopted, and the Economic and Social Committee's opinion on "More Sustainable Food Systems" urged the European Commission and Member States to achieve a sustainable, fair, and climate-friendly food system by reducing waste. Furthermore, the European Court of Auditors' Special Report No. 34/2016, "Tackling food waste: An opportunity for the EU to make the food supply chain more resource-efficient," called on the EU to become more efficient in the fight against food waste, considering it essential to establish a definition to achieve the objectives. Finally, the Council Conclusions on "Closing the Loop: An EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy" were adopted, and the Council Conclusions on food loss and waste emphasized these objectives, promoting sustainability and reducing food loss and waste. These included, among other things, calling on Member States and the Commission to collect data to better understand the problem; emphasizing the prevention of food loss and waste; and facilitating the donation of unsold food products to charitable, social, or humanitarian organizations. A first assessment of the progress made in implementing these conclusions was conducted in 2018, followed by a second assessment in 2020, in which the German Presidency submitted a questionnaire to Member States and the Commission. The conclusion was that all Member States have adopted national measures to reduce food loss and waste and have frequently integrated them into their national strategies or legislation, highlighting in particular the favorable tax treatment of such initiatives.

The Commission also made progress in developing an EU methodology for measuring food waste and drafted EU guidelines to facilitate food donations and the use of old food as animal feed.

In turn, in application of the 2018 revision of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), Member States are obliged to adopt measures to prevent the generation of waste and, in particular, to reduce food waste (to which food waste contributes greatly), for which they must establish measurement systems to know the food waste generated and its evolution, based on a common methodology approved by Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597 of 3 May 2019 supplementing Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards a common methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of food waste.

The Directive establishes the obligation to report the total amount of food waste generated at each stage of the supply chain, based on measurements that can be taken every four years for each of these stages in accordance with the Decision. This will allow the Commission to assess the feasibility of setting reduction targets at the European level in 2023. The measures to prevent waste generation imposed by the directive on Member States shall, as a minimum, reduce food waste generation in primary production, processing and manufacturing, retail and other distribution of food, in restaurants and food services, as well as in households, as a contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of reducing global per capita food waste by 50 % in retail and consumer sales and reducing food losses along production and supply chains by 2030 and shall encourage food donations and other means of redistribution for human consumption, prioritising human consumption over animal feed and processing into non-food products.

It should be noted that the recent Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy, provides for measures to prevent waste generation, such as the obligation for the competent authorities to adopt measures whose purposes will be, at least, to reduce the generation of food waste in primary production, in processing and manufacturing, in retail and other types of food distribution, in restaurants and food services, as well as in households, so as to achieve a 50% reduction in food waste per capita at the retail and consumer levels, and a 20% reduction in food losses along production and supply chains by 2030, compared to 2020, and to promote food donations and other types of redistribution for human consumption, prioritizing it over animal feed and processing into non-food products. It also establishes a measure requiring all municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants to separate biowaste (organic waste), and includes a specific article on food waste.

In relation to the definitions of food waste and food waste, it should be noted that food waste is a concept defined in Law 7/2022, of April 8, derived from the Waste Framework Directive, and is all food, as defined in article 2 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of January 28, 2002, which has become waste, "waste" being any substance or object that its holder gets rid of or has the intention or obligation to get rid of.

The definition of "food" established in Regulation (EC) 178/2002 covers food as a whole, throughout the entire food chain, from production to consumption. Food also includes inedible parts if these are not separated from the edible parts during production, such as bones in meat intended for human consumption. Consequently, food waste can include elements with parts of food intended to be eaten and parts of food not intended to be eaten. Therefore, the concept of food waste would be a subset of the concept of food residue, since the latter does include "parts of food not intended to be eaten," which do not fall within the concept of waste.

In any case, actions linked to the fight against food waste and loss appear in other European initiatives, such as the European Green Deal and, in particular, the Farm to Fork Strategy, which have incorporated these actions as a cross-cutting element in other EU policies, or the fruit and milk consumption program in schools to promote good eating habits among children and young people, which can be accompanied by educational measures that encourage the prevention of loss and waste. All of these have ultimately formed an essential core of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2023 onwards.

Furthermore, the Spanish Circular Economy Strategy, Spain Circular 2030, includes a goal of reducing food waste throughout the food chain: a 50% per capita reduction at the household and retail consumption levels and a 20% reduction in production and supply chains starting in 2020, thus contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Likewise, the First Circular Economy Action Plan includes a section 2.2 on food waste with two measures, instruments with which this law is consistent.

This reflection in the forthcoming Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is also reflected at the national level, so that the Strategic Plan for the new CAP includes a Specific Objective 9 to improve agriculture's response to social demands regarding food, health, and sustainability. The definition of this objective identifies the need to reduce food waste from production to consumption.

But the Kingdom of Spain has already launched many other initiatives to curb waste, including the pioneering "More Food, Less Waste" Strategy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 2013, aimed at promoting transparency, dialogue and coordination between stakeholders in the food chain and public administrations, and developing coordinated actions that have helped drive a change in attitudes, work systems and management that have made it possible to limit waste and reduce environmental pressures.

Its main lines of action have been collaboration among various stakeholders, raising social awareness, promoting good prevention and reduction practices, and optimizing surpluses. It has been implemented with a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach, in which all stakeholders in the food supply chain contributed directly or indirectly to prevention and reduction. Among these lines of action, we can highlight the effort to inform and raise awareness (to achieve firm commitments against food waste at all stages) and certain regulatory changes, such as the elimination of the use-by date on yogurt. Likewise, the Code of Good Business Practices in Food Procurement has incorporated the commitment to pay special attention to reducing the volume of food waste at the different stages of the chain.

Another key element has been support for new technologies and innovation, such as those that extend the shelf life of food, especially in packaging. Therefore, work was done to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in business projects aimed at reducing food waste, or to identify the four Rs of food waste: reducing through responsible purchasing; redistributing by donating food to save it; reusing to creatively utilize leftovers; and recycling by daring to compost. The Strategy included various initiatives in the areas of evaluation, dissemination, and promotion; studies, innovation, and cooperation; and much of the effort was focused on bringing about changes in the consumer as the end recipient of the agri-food chain, since they hold a position of strength in making their purchasing decisions, guiding the market. In this regard, work was done with activities in schools, with "Anti-Waste Weeks," and with information and awareness campaigns.

From the outset, it was considered that this Strategy should be implemented through recommendations, voluntary agreements, and self-regulation, as it was understood that the food chain's own stakeholders should demonstrate their commitment and adhere to the Strategy, convinced of the need to act to reduce this problem.

However, as other documents have noted, the first major challenge has been to determine exactly what the problem is and the magnitude of it. Therefore, we have been working with stakeholders in the food chain to conduct studies that have shed light on the stages at which food loss and waste occur, their quantification, and their economic and social impact. The first of these was the Monograph Study on Food Waste from the 2013 Climate of Confidence Barometer in the Agri-Food Sector, which concluded that the vast majority of distributors recalled an average of 5.6% of their products for exceeding their best-before and expiration dates. The majority of consumers said they knew the difference between the expiration date and the best-before date, although there was room for improvement. After its repetition in 2015, the number of recalls had decreased slightly, but their destination was the same as before: the garbage. Meanwhile, 95% of people believe supermarkets should donate products that are about to expire and that they know they won't sell to food banks.

In 2014, the Panel for Quantifying Food Waste in Spanish Households was launched, and later, the Panel for Quantifying Food Waste Outside the Home. These stable, evolving, and long-term measurement systems provide detailed information on both food thrown away as purchased, leftovers from home-prepared recipes that end up in the trash, and food and beverages outside the home.

According to data from the Spanish Household Food Waste Quantification Panel, the trend in waste since the start of measurements has been uneven, although it has been observed that particularly warm seasons (summer 2015, as well as summer and autumn 2018) have coincided with higher levels of waste. After several periods in which the general trend was downward, the highest value in the series was reached in the autumn-winter of 2018-19 (712.2 million kg of waste). In total, 1,352.5 million kg were wasted in 2019, an increase of 1% compared to 2018, although waste has been progressively decreasing since then.

According to data from spring-summer 2020, during the pandemic, the number of households that waste food dropped slightly to 74.4% (down from 79% in 2019), despite a significant increase in household consumption. The volume of waste also decreased by 2.6% compared to spring-summer 2019.

In 2020, total waste reached approximately 25 million kg per week, corresponding to almost 1.4 kg per household. More than 80% of this waste corresponds to unused products, discarded due to deterioration. The largest volume of waste corresponds to fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, which account for more than 50% of the total unused products. Meanwhile, the most wasted recipes are those containing legumes, stews, and soups or purées.

On the other hand, according to data from the Out-of-Home Food Waste Quantification Panel, the total waste generated by consumers during their out-of-home consumption over a 12-month period (fall-winter + spring-summer 2020) was 30.5 million kg, which represents approximately 0.9 kg per capita. The most wasted foods during this period were vegetables, meat, and bread, accounting for more than 50% of the three categories. Among beverages, cold drinks, especially soft drinks, water, and beer, stand out, accounting for approximately 75%.

The second stage of the Strategy deepened the original objectives through eight pillars: knowledge generation, training and awareness-raising, promotion of good practices, collaboration with other stakeholders, sectoral agreements, regulatory aspects, research and innovation, and waste, environment, and climate change.

In this new phase, the Ministry quantified the waste generated in industry and distribution in Spain, where it was observed that awareness about the importance of preventing and reducing waste is progressively growing, as well as the vision that only through collaboration can this problem be reduced and addressed.

It was also found that companies' awareness of the importance of combating food waste is increasing: 71% of companies have a plan to combat food waste. 61.1% promote internal practices, and 51.39% implement actions with the immediately upstream or downstream steps aimed at reducing food waste.

It follows that there is a search for more efficient production. For every kilogram of finished product produced in the food industry, 0.0022 kg of byproducts are recycled and 0.004 kg of waste are generated, which means that companies are working to maximize the utilization of food.

The practices most commonly employed in the fight against waste include training and raising awareness among employees and suppliers through courses, talks, visits, and other activities, as well as exhaustive monitoring of processes and machinery to eliminate inefficiencies during the process. This study also focused on the impact COVID-19 has had on food waste, highlighting that more than 20% of companies have increased food donations. And there is greater solidarity, with 9 out of 10 companies donating to NGOs.

The assessment of these years of the Strategy has represented progress in the development of actions that have contributed to driving changes in attitudes, work systems, and management, seeking to limit food waste and reduce environmental pressures. With the strategy's validity coming to an end in 2020, this law represents the next step in the process of addressing the serious problem of food waste, with the aim of incorporating into legislation a series of principles and regulations that will address it and lay the foundations for its eradication.

III

However, efforts made to combat food waste appear to have been insufficient. For this reason, and because the problem of food loss and waste affects all stages of the supply chain and is influenced by numerous factors, it seems clear that a standard that promotes the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste is needed. The challenge is to prevent and curb the generation of food loss and waste, the adverse impacts of its generation, and its utilization and recovery throughout the food chain. To ensure that all stages of the supply chain are efficient in achieving this objective, the participation of all sectors of society is necessary, involving public administrations, companies and operators related to the food chain, associations, third-sector organizations, food banks that support disadvantaged people, and society as a whole in its development and implementation. Only in this way is it possible to reduce food loss and waste in all aspects of the supply chain.

The fight against food loss and waste is key to achieving sustainability. Preventing and reducing food loss and waste offers benefits for all stages of the food chain, and the recovery and distribution of surplus food has a significant impact on the social dimension. Within this framework, this law on the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste, the adverse impacts of its generation and its use and valorization throughout the food chain, aims to promote the circular bioeconomy; reduce food waste through more efficient management of resources allocated to agricultural production and better management of water resources, avoiding agricultural surpluses that may be lost or wasted and that can provide clear benefits for food; raise awareness and inform stakeholders in production, processing, distribution, the hotel and catering industry, consumers, and the general public; encourage food donations while ensuring food safety and traceability; Promote the recovery and distribution of surplus food for social solidarity purposes, prioritizing it for human use, and promoting research, innovation, and awareness-raising activities in the field of food waste reduction.

Preventing food waste contributes to improving the efficiency of the food system, fostering the circular bioeconomy and the integrated use of resources and byproducts.

Among the law's purposes is to address the responsible production and consumption objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To this end, in addition to other measures, food waste generation will be reduced in primary production, processing and manufacturing, retail and other food distribution, restaurants and food services, and in households, resulting in a 50% reduction in per capita food waste at the retail and consumption levels and a 20% reduction in food losses along production and supply chains by 2030, compared to 2020. This is therefore an initiative of utmost importance and relevance due to its net contribution to achieving more sustainable food systems, making progress towards achieving the SDGs, especially SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, and SDG 13: Climate Action.

It is also worth noting that both the "National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan" and the "Long-Term Decarbonization Strategy (2050)" and the "National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (2021-2030)" include measures and lines of action to reduce food waste, which this future law would allow to be activated and accelerated, thus contributing to Spain's climate objectives set out in Law 7/2021, of May 20, on climate change and energy transition. All of this is in line with the Spanish Circular Economy Strategy, Spain Circular 2030 and its 1st Circular Economy Action Plan 2021-2023 within the framework of the EU's 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan for a Cleaner and More Competitive Europe, which includes a section 2.2 on food waste with three measures and mentions "Food, Water and Nutrients" as one of the key value chains in this context. Specifically, these three measures are: regulatory developments for reducing food waste, such as this law; generating knowledge about food waste, such as the Household Waste Quantification Panel; and reducing food waste in distribution, catering, and hospitality through the adoption of voluntary agreements and plans that will specify measures, best practices, and targets for waste reduction.

The rule is based on the assumption

awareness-raising measures are not enough; they must be accompanied by important structural reforms in the food production, processing and supply chain, which must be supported financially, and by a decisive push from the public authorities to undertake the decisive transformation that the current reality demands.

IV

Within this framework, this law is approved, consisting of 23 articles, structured into six chapters.

Chapter I, "General Provisions," incorporates the purpose of the law, which is essentially the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste by all agents in the food chain, and its scope, which prefigures the content of the law itself: the activities carried out by agents, whether in the production, processing, or distribution of food, as well as in the hotel and catering industry, other entities and associations involved in the distribution of food donations, and the public administration.

In addition to defining the concepts applicable to the standard, it also regulates guiding principles, such as the efficient use of resources and the promotion of food donations, with a special emphasis on collaboration between public administrations.

Product withdrawal activities due to crisis management measures in the Operational Programmes for Fruit and Vegetables, banana withdrawals within the framework of the Community Support Programme for Agricultural Production in the Canary Islands (POSEI), or other measures under a crisis prevention and management mechanism or market regulation provided for in Community legislation are excluded from the scope of this law, since producer organisations have, among their crisis management measures, product withdrawal mechanisms that practically coincide with the objectives set out in this law.

Furthermore, the main destination for these withdrawals is free distribution to people in need, with more than 44% of the withdrawals by volume in the last year, while more than 36% is used for animal feed and just under 19% for biodegradation and composting. Furthermore, including crisis management measures for the fruit and vegetable sector could upset this balance, which we consider desirable.

One of the essential aspects is the hierarchy of priorities that agents must apply in this area, ensuring optimal use in accordance with waste regulations, always prioritizing prevention and use in human consumption and establishing the succession of priorities to be taken into account in the event that the former is not possible, such as recovery or use as by-products.

Chapter II regulates the obligations of stakeholders in the food chain, establishing a list of issues that all stakeholders must keep in mind, so that it acts as a common foundation for their activities. This list is supplemented in specific aspects with obligations for specific activities in order to improve the coherence of the system ratione materiae.

Thus, for example, the horizontal obligation for all stakeholders is to apply the hierarchy of priorities set out in this law to food losses and waste at any stage of the food chain where they are generated under their control, and to adopt appropriate measures for its implementation within their specific regulatory framework, provide adequate handling facilities, and train and raise awareness among workers and volunteers. Along with this set of provisions, the law includes specific mandates for public administrations as guarantors of the general interest, such as carrying out informational and promotional campaigns to encourage responsible food consumption and promote loss prevention and reduction.

In any case, it should be noted that this regulation is not intended to be the only way to meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable citizens. Food distribution to prevent food waste is an extraordinary and exceptional resource that serves various purposes of general interest. However, the coverage of basic needs must always be guaranteed through standardized formulas that respect people's dignity and allow them to make decisions about their food. In this regard, it is worth remembering that food is a human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Chapter III regulates the recommendations of public administrations, together with companies that sell to the end consumer and hospitality businesses, establishing a list of issues that all stakeholders must keep in mind, so that it acts as a common foundation for their activities. For example, measures such as promoting donations for social purposes and training and raising awareness about food waste among consumers can be highlighted.

Chapter IV focuses on streamlining best-before dates to contribute to the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste. It contains a mandate to promote the adaptation of best-before dates to the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste, within the framework of European regulations.

Chapter V establishes the instruments for the promotion and control of the reduction and prevention of food losses and waste, which include measures to promote self-regulation and disciplines the system for the application and control of this public policy, including a Strategic Plan for the prevention and reduction of food losses and waste, which will contain the general strategy of the food waste policy, the guidelines and structure to which the regional programs must conform, as well as the minimum objectives to be met in terms of prevention and elimination, the National Plan for the control of food losses and waste, which will be reviewed at least every four years, which will contain the general objectives and priorities of the control tasks to be carried out by the competent administrations in this matter, and the annual report that will include the result of the execution of the National Plan for the control of food losses and waste.

In this regard, it is essential to ensure coordinated efforts across all administrative levels to enable effective oversight, real and shared support, and a thorough understanding and design of appropriate multi-level governance for an area with intense overlapping of responsibilities. This must converge in the implementation of food waste policy based on shared leadership and cooperative efforts. Thus, within the framework of the Strategic Plan, regional and, where appropriate, local programs will be approved, and executive control tasks, which must be carried out systematically and with sufficient frequency, will be included in the National Plan for the Control of Food Losses and Waste. Finally, and based on regional information, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food will produce an annual report reflecting the results of the implementation of the National Plan for the Control of Food Losses and Waste, developed by the relevant public administrations. This coordination is achieved through the integration of policies and measures to achieve a goal as transversal as the reduction of food waste, in response to the European Parliament's resolution of 19 January 2012, which called for the design of appropriate multi-level governance for an area with a strong overlap of competencies, which must converge in the implementation of food waste policy based on shared leadership and cooperative efforts.

Finally, Chapter VI sets out the sanctioning regime, classifying the violations and outlining the basic sanctions in this area, ensuring a broad margin for regional regulations to decide what their system of violations and sanctions should be, within a basic framework that ensures a reasonable common minimum standard.

Finally, the law is completed with a final section composed of eight additional provisions, one transitional provision, one repealing provision, and twenty final provisions containing the corresponding provisions on the jurisdictional scope, regulatory authorizations, and entry into force, as well as on the coordinated methodology for quantifying food waste, loss, and residue.

The regulation also incorporates an amendment to Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts, which transposes into Spanish law Directives 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU of February 26, 2014, of the European Parliament and of the Council, in order to include as a condition in the procurement documents for food services in public institutions that the supplier include adequate practices from the perspective of food waste prevention and compliance with this law.

Law 10/2009, of October 20, establishing advisory bodies to the State in the agri-food sector and determining the bases of representation of professional agricultural organizations, was key in establishing an objective system for determining the representativeness of agricultural organizations at the state level. It represented a fundamental step, establishing a system for measuring representativeness based on commonly accepted criteria.

Law 10/2009, of October 20, required obtaining at least fifteen percent of the votes in all the electoral processes carried out by the autonomous communities for their participation in autonomous advisory bodies and entities, having participated in, at least, nine autonomous communities' electoral processes, or failing that, having had such status recognized in at least ten autonomous communities.

Law 12/2014, of July 9, which regulates the procedure for determining the representativeness of professional agricultural organizations and creates the Agricultural Council, established a mechanism for direct, simultaneous public consultation throughout the national territory to measure the representativeness of general and national professional agricultural organizations.

The procedure established by Law 12/2014, of July 9, is exhaustive, and its practical application entails difficulties from a material, economic, and even teleological perspective. Thus, it is sufficient to mention the significant deployment of human and material resources that it would require, especially given the expected in-person participation at polling stations spread throughout the country, its high economic cost, the differences between the state and regional electoral processes, which affect the census and the very configuration of the processes, which could lead to disparate results in the same territorial area, and the duplication of consultations in certain autonomous communities.

In any case, determining the representativeness of professional agricultural organizations under this system was subject to further regulatory development pursuant to the third final provision of the aforementioned law. Therefore, the representativeness system implemented by the law has not been implemented a decade after its approval.

The representation of professional agricultural organizations, on a temporary basis, therefore continues to reside in those that obtained such recognition under its predecessor, Law 10/2009, of October 20, on the creation of advisory bodies to the State in the agri-food sector and determining the bases of representation of professional agricultural organizations.

Although Article 6 of Law 10/2009, of 20 October, provided for the five-yearly evaluation of representativeness, this was interrupted on 30 July 2014 with the entry into force of Law 12/2014, of 9 July, making it de facto impossible to update the representativeness of agricultural organisations due to the loss of validity of the regulation that governed such recognition, which reflects a reality that has evolved over time.

Consequently, given the significant difficulties involved in convening a consultation under the terms provided for in Law 12/2014 of July 9, it is necessary to modify the rule on the representativeness of national agricultural professional organizations, establishing a new system that ensures the effective consideration of such representativeness.

In keeping with this spirit of consensus and with the aim of granting the process the necessary social legitimacy to be accepted by professional agricultural organizations and enabling them to efficiently serve as intermediaries and interlocutors with public authorities, this law establishes a procedure for determining the most representative general and national professional agricultural organizations.

A procedure that includes certain requirements to ensure that participating entities are general, state-wide professional agricultural organizations, established and recognized under Law 19/1977 of April 1, whose statutory purposes include defending the general interests of agriculture and with a broad territorial presence.

Furthermore, a procedure is established to determine their most representative nature and their representativeness at the state level, based exclusively on accreditations issued by the autonomous communities. This accreditation must take into account the electoral processes held or, failing that, other systems for determining representativeness recognized by the autonomous communities, or a verification of the organizations' implementation status within the autonomous communities.

All of this will allow for a determination of agricultural representation, taking into account the overall situation of the autonomous communities and the professional agricultural organizations within them, ensuring representation consistent with the reality of the sector.

The most representative organizations at the state level will perform institutional representation functions in defense of their interests before the General State Administration and other state entities or agencies, and will have the rights inherent to their status as such. In particular, this regulation governs the essential conditions of the Agrarian Council, which is established as a consultative collegiate body attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with the purpose of advising the General State Administration on matters of general agricultural and rural interest. Its regulation will be developed through regulations, as well as other aspects related to the presence of organizations in the participatory bodies of the General State Administration, as well as the direct aid that will be granted and its distribution, in light of its status as most representative.

In

During its processing, the bill has been subject to a public hearing, information, and participation, and the affected autonomous communities and entities representing the interests of the affected sectors have been consulted.

The text of this standard has been submitted to the European Commission's communication procedure in accordance with Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and rules on information society services and Royal Decree 1337/1999 of 31 July 1999 regulating the provision of information on technical standards and regulations and regulations on information society services.

This regulation is issued under the provisions of rule 13 of article 149.1 of the Spanish Constitution, which grants the State jurisdiction over the bases and coordination of general planning of economic activity, as well as the provisions of article 149.1.23, which grants the State jurisdiction over basic legislation on environmental protection.

The regulations contained in this standard comply with the principles set forth in Article 129 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations. Thus, in accordance with the principles of necessity and effectiveness, the draft is justified by the need for a coherent application of European Union regulations and international initiatives in Spain, being the most appropriate instrument to guarantee its achievement. It is essential that the regulations be contemplated in a basic standard and fulfill the purpose of adopting various measures aimed at preventing and reducing food loss and waste by all agents in the food chain, given their negative effects. The principle of proportionality is observed, and the regulations are limited to the minimum necessary to comply with said regulations. Thus, the proposal contains the essential regulations to meet the need to be covered by the standard, after verifying that there are no other measures that are less restrictive of rights, or that impose fewer obligations on the recipients, to achieve this objective. The principle of legal certainty is fulfilled by establishing the new provisions in a general provision, which is also consistent with the rest of the national and European legal system. The principle of transparency is fulfilled, as the autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the representative entities of the affected sectors, were consulted in the drafting of the regulation. Through the public hearing on the draft, this also facilitates simple, universal, and up-to-date access to current regulations and the documents related to its drafting process. The objectives of the regulatory initiative and its justification have been clearly defined in the explanatory statement, and potential recipients have been enabled to actively participate in its drafting. Finally, with regard to the principle of efficiency, no new administrative burdens are imposed, and public intervention is limited to essential aspects, opting for the most balanced solution.

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 1. Purpose and objectives of the law.

1. The purpose of this law is to prevent and reduce food loss and waste by all stakeholders in the food chain, establishing a hierarchy of priorities for solutions and addressing the 2030 Agenda's goal of responsible food production and consumption.

2. The specific purposes of this law are:

a) Reduce food loss and waste throughout the agri-food chain through more efficient resource management, thus promoting the circular economy.

b) Clearly define what is meant by food loss and waste, comprehensively throughout the agri-food chain and at each of its stages.

c) Promote food donation and redistribution, ensuring food safety and traceability.

d) Conduct an in-depth analysis of the causes and consequences of food loss and waste, promoting research and innovation in the field of food loss and waste prevention and reduction.

e) Progress in rigorous and regularly updated quantitative and qualitative measurement of food waste generated at the various stages of our food system, based on a common methodology that allows for comparative studies between municipalities and autonomous communities, as well as within the European Union and internationally. Autonomous communities may establish in their regulations that their competent authorities must carry out such measurements within their respective territories.

f) Lay the groundwork for social initiative entities, other non-profit organizations that provide distribution services for food donations, and other stakeholders to receive the necessary public resources and means to cover the necessary logistics, including transportation, processing, and storage, so that unsold food can be used through donation.

g) Incorporate into our legal system coherence with the objective of reducing food loss and waste.

(h) Respond to the 2030 Agenda's goal of responsible production and consumption by reducing food waste generation in primary production, processing and manufacturing, retail and other food distribution, restaurants and food services, and households, thereby achieving a 50% reduction in per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels and a 20% reduction in food losses along production and supply chains by 2030, compared to 2020, as a contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

i) Promote accountability of all actors in the food chain regarding food loss and waste, as well as learning about prevention and reduction processes.

j) Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

k) Establish the hierarchy of priorities that chain operators must take into account when managing food losses and waste, the generation of which could not be avoided.

l) Raise awareness, train and inform stakeholders in production, processing, distribution, hospitality, catering, consumers and the general public, and promote awareness-raising activities in the area of prevention and reduction of food loss and waste and proper management of food and its waste, without prejudice to the necessary guarantees of food safety, quality and hygiene.

3. They are strategies for achieving the purposes of the law:

a) Raise awareness and inform stakeholders in the food chain and other food service providers, consumers and the general public.

b) Promote the distribution of food donations, ensuring food safety and traceability.

c) Promote the recovery and distribution of surplus food for donation for social solidarity purposes, assigning it as a priority for human use.

d) Promote research, innovation and awareness-raising activities in the field of prevention and reduction of food loss and waste.

Article 2. Scope of application.

This law applies to activities carried out in Spanish territory by agents in the food chain, whether involved in the production, processing, or distribution of food, as well as in the hospitality, catering, and other entities and associations that distribute donated food, and by the public administration, without prejudice to the provisions of Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy, and other applicable waste or health regulations.

Excluded from the scope of this law are product recalls resulting from crisis management measures in the Fruit and Vegetable Operational Programmes, banana recalls under the Community Support Programme for Agricultural Production in the Canary Islands (POSEI), or other measures under a crisis prevention and management mechanism or market regulation provided for in Community legislation.

Article 3. Definitions.

In addition to the definitions included in Law 7/2022, of April 8, for the purposes of this law, the following definitions apply:

a) Agents in the food chain: operators belonging to the primary sector, including cooperatives and other associative entities, entities or companies involved in the processing, manufacturing or distribution of food, retail businesses, companies in the hospitality or catering sector and other food service providers, Third Sector entities for social action, social initiatives and other non-profit organisations that provide distribution services for donated food, and public administrations.

(b) Food or foodstuff: the definition provided for in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety shall apply.

c) Food waste: the part of food intended to be ingested by humans and which ends up discarded as waste.

d) Food losses: agricultural and food products that for any reason remain on the farm itself, either reincorporated into the soil or used to make compost on site and whose final destination would have been human food.

e) Other food service providers: health centers, educational centers, penitentiary centers, foreign detention centers, social services residences, and in general all permanent establishments that offer catering or dining service.

f) Micro-enterprises: companies that employ fewer than ten people and have an annual turnover or an annual balance sheet of no more than two million euros.

g) Food waste: all food, as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002, which has become waste, i.e. which its holder has discarded or intends or is obliged to discard, as indicated in Article 2 al) of Law 7/2022 of 8 April.

h) Gleaning or gleaning: the gathering of food left in the field after the main harvest, or of sown crops not harvested, with the authorization of the owner(s) of the farm, as a non-profit complementary activity aimed at preventing food loss and waste.

Article 4. Guiding principles.

Activities aimed at preventing and reducing food loss and waste for all stakeholders in the food chain will be governed by the following principles:

a) Efficiency in the use of natural, social, economic, and productive resources in the food chain, not prioritizing only the economic and ensuring the sustainability of our food system.

b) Prevention, so as to encourage the adoption of measures aimed at preventing food from being lost or wasted, reducing the amount of food loss and waste through reuse, and reducing the impact of emissions and waste generation on the environment and human health.

c) Hierarchy of priorities in accordance with the provisions of this law and the waste regulations, within their respective regulatory frameworks.

d) Promote the donation of food for human consumption and other types of redistribution, prioritizing it over other uses such as animal feed and processing into non-food products in accordance with the provisions of the hierarchy of priorities of this law and the regulations governing waste, within their respective regulatory frameworks.

e) Promote education and awareness regarding the prevention of food loss and waste among the general public.

f) Generate the necessary legal security in the relationships between donor agents and recipients to carry out donation tasks through the agreements or collaboration agreements established in Article 7.

In any case, those responsible for environmental damage must pay to cover the costs, in accordance with the "polluter pays" principle, as regulated by Law 26/2007, of October 23, on Environmental Liability, which expressly regulates the responsibility of operators to prevent, avoid, and repair environmental damage, in accordance with Article 45 of the Constitution and the principles of prevention and "polluter pays." Furthermore, the application of this principle in waste policy will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 of Law 7/2022, of April 8, in relation to the cost of managing the waste generated. Specifically, the objective is to ensure that the polluter controls, reduces, and prevents pollution, and to provide legal remedies for justice, enforcement, and compensation for environmental and health damages, taking into account that the polluter pays principle and the precautionary principle are two sides of the same coin.

Article 5. Hierarchy of priorities of the agents in the food chain.

1. Food chain stakeholders will implement all possible measures and will have as their primary obligation the prevention of food loss and waste, incorporating rational production, purchasing, and management criteria based on specific needs that prevent the generation of surpluses.

Likewise, they must adapt their actions to the following hierarchy of priorities, in accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of Law 7/2022, of April 8, for food waste:

a) First, attention will be paid to preventing food loss and waste, incorporating the transformation of agricultural products or foods that have not been sold, but are still fit for human consumption, into alternative products for human consumption.

b) For those surpluses whose generation has not been prevented, the following order of priority will be followed:

1. Food donations and other types of redistribution for human consumption will be carried out.

2. Failing this, the food will be used for animal feed and feed manufacturing within the corresponding regulatory framework and in particular Ministerial Order APM 189/2018, of February 20, which determines when production waste from the agri-food industry intended for animal feed is a by-product in accordance with Law 7/2022, of April 8.

3. In the absence of all of the above, they will be used as by-products in another industry.

c) And ultimately, as waste, recycling and, in particular, obtaining top-quality compost and digestate for use on soils with the aim of producing a benefit for them, and, when the above is not possible, for energy recovery through the production of biogas or fuel. In this case, the provisions of Article 8.1 of Law 7/2022, of April 8, will apply.

2. The hierarchy of priorities set out in section 1 shall always apply; however, it may be possible to adapt the actions of food chain agents according to the characteristics of their activity or those specific to the sector, or if a better result in reducing food waste is achieved. In this case, the reasons must be justified, whether for reasons of technical feasibility, food safety, economic viability, or environmental protection, or greater efficiency in management by previous links, among others. This possibility of adaptation and its justification may be developed in regulations, which shall indicate the means and methods for justifying the impossibility of adapting actions to the priorities contemplated in this article.

3. To facilitate the implementation of the hierarchy of priorities and prevent waste by supply chain operators and consumers, the competent authorities may use economic instruments and other incentive measures, in particular those related to the guarantee of coverage of production costs, innovation, food safety in food donations, and the availability of facilities and resources by social initiative entities and other non-profit organizations or food banks.

CHAPTER II

Obligations of food chain agents

Article 6. General obligations for all agents in the food chain.

1. All agents in the food chain are obliged to apply the hierarchy of priorities established by this law in accordance with article 5 to food losses and waste, in any of the links in the food chain in which they are generated under their control, and to adopt appropriate measures for its application, without prejudice to the provisions of Law 7/2022, of April 8, and other waste regulations that apply to them.

2. All agents in the food chain are required to implement the measures provided for in Article 19 of Law 7/2022, of April 8, for the reduction of food waste, especially the provisions relating to food donations.

3. No contractual stipulation may expressly prevent the donation of food, and is null and void.

4. In addition, all agents in the food chain have the following obligations:

a) Have an implementation plan for the prevention of food loss and waste that includes how the hierarchy of priorities established in Article 5 will be applied. In the case of operators operating in more than one autonomous community, this obligation may be fulfilled through a joint integrated plan. In the case of operating in autonomous communities where there are specific regulations requiring a plan, the joint integrated plan must consider the requirements established by the autonomous regulations where they operate.

b) Promote agreements or conventions to donate their surplus food to social initiative entities and other non-profit organizations or food banks, except in cases where this is not feasible and is duly justified in accordance with article 5.2.

c) The following are exempt from the obligations set forth in this section four: processing, retail trade, food distribution, hospitality, or catering activities carried out in establishments equal to or less than 1,300 m2 in the case of companies that do not have retail sales, or with a useful exhibition and sales area equal to or less than 1,300 m2 in the case of companies that offer retail sales. In any case, regardless of their surface area, establishments operating under the same tax identification code and that, as a whole, exceed 1,300 m2 in surface area, taking into account the above criteria, will be required to comply.

5. All agents in the food chain have the obligation to avoid actions aimed at leaving food in conditions unfit for consumption or recovery.

6. Micro-enterprises are excluded from the obligations referred to in the preceding sections of this article.

7. Small agricultural holdings, defined in accordance with the Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2023 on the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (2003/361/EC), are excluded from the obligations of this law.

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Article 7. Minimum content of donation agreements or conventions.

The agreement or convention provided for in article 6.4.b) must include at least the following content:

1. The conditions for the collection, transportation and storage of the products.

2. The commitments of the agents in the chain.

3. The selection of the food to be donated will be made by the donor agent.

4. The possibility of the receiving organization rejecting the donation, which must be duly justified. The donor agent must apply the hierarchy of priorities set out in section 1 of article 5 to manage the rejected donation. The donor agent will decide the return conditions (collection and transport), in accordance with the formalized agreement.

Article 8. Specific obligations for hospitality and catering companies.

Food chain agents that are hospitality companies and other food service providers will be obliged to make it possible for consumers to take away, at no additional cost other than, where applicable, that mentioned in the following paragraph, any uneaten food, except in all-you-can-eat buffet or similar service formats, where food availability is not limited, and to inform consumers of this possibility clearly and visibly in the establishment itself, preferably on the menu.

For this purpose, containers suitable for food use, reusable, or easily recyclable, will be used. For single-use plastic food containers or packaging, the provisions set forth in Title V of Law 7/2022, of April 8, must be taken into account, especially those relating to the need to reduce consumption in order to meet the objectives of Article 55.1 of said law and the obligation to collect them, as well as those contemplated in Article 18 of Royal Decree 1021/2022, of December 13, which regulates certain hygiene requirements for the production and marketing of food products in retail establishments.

Companies or entities managing catering services or collective and social dining halls, in collaboration with educational or social-health centers, may establish awareness, education, and training programs on food waste reduction aimed at kitchen and dining room staff, as well as center staff and users.

Article 9. Specific obligations for companies and social initiative entities and other non-profit organizations dedicated to the distribution of food for the donation of food fit for human consumption.

Food chain agents that are companies and social initiative entities and other non-profit organizations dedicated to the distribution of food for the donation of food fit for human consumption, in addition to complying with the provisions of Chapter V bis of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, have the following obligations:

a) Ensure the traceability of donated products through a system for recording the input and output of food received and delivered. Individuals who provide food on an ad hoc basis at community events or other charitable events, as well as charitable, social, or humanitarian organizations that occasionally receive food from private donors, are excluded from traceability obligations.

b) Maintain proper hygiene practices in the preservation and handling of food under their control, assuming responsibility for its management from the moment the product is delivered by the donor. They must have adequate facilities and equipment to guarantee its quality and food safety, including devices to maintain the cold chain, where necessary.

c) Carry out the donation and distribution of food without discrimination based on disability, age, sex, health, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sexual characteristics, nationality, foreign administrative status, racial or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, territory or any other personal or social condition or circumstance, as well as ensuring respect for human rights.

d) Donate the products received to people in vulnerable situations, and their sale is expressly prohibited. This prohibition does not apply to entities covered by Article 5.4 of Law 5/2011, of March 29, on the Social Economy.

e) Link the donation of the products received to the promotion of projects that enable employment and social integration of people in vulnerable situations, working from a community and social cohesion perspective.

f) Encourage donations of food received from a community and social cohesion perspective, linking them to projects that enable employment and social integration of people in vulnerable situations.

(g) Provide food information to the final beneficiary in accordance with national and European rules relating to the provision of food information to consumers and, in particular, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011.

Article 10. Consumer rights.

Consumers have the right to:

a) Receive information from public administrations and companies in the food chain on measures to reduce food waste in homes and restaurants, as well as on programs established to prevent food loss and waste.

b) Receive information from social initiative entities and other non-profit organizations or food banks about the characteristics, conditions, and status of the food they receive as donations.

c) Take unconsumed food from hospitality businesses and other food service providers, taking into account the provisions of Article 8.

Article 11. Specific obligations for public administrations.

1. Public administrations have the following obligations:

a) Promote collaboration with other administrations and stakeholders in the food chain in the fight against food loss and waste, encouraging the development of innovative solutions in this regard and, in particular, fostering public-private and public-community collaboration.

b) Carry out information and promotional campaigns to encourage responsible food consumption and promote the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste.

c) Develop good practice guides aimed at improving food management and thereby reducing food loss and waste.

d) Provide information on food loss and waste prevention programs.

e) Make available to food chain agents guides for the development of plans for the prevention and reduction of food losses and waste.

f) Educate and raise awareness about food waste among consumers, enabling them to better plan their menus and purchases, promote sustainable purchasing (such as fresh, seasonal, local, or locally sourced foods), use recycled food in the kitchen, adopt good storage practices, correctly interpret expiration and best-before dates, and use recycling and packaging materials.

g) Promote waste prevention and inform consumers about more responsible consumption habits.

h) Advise, empower, and inform companies and social initiative entities and other non-profit organizations dedicated to food distribution for the donation and redistribution of food suitable for human consumption.

i) Promote the creation of new businesses for the prevention and channeling of food surpluses.

j) Promote the creation of new businesses aimed at revaluing food surpluses following the circular economy strategy.

k) Support research and innovation in prevention and the search for technological solutions that extend the shelf life of food or its reuse and revaluation, and the transfer of this knowledge to companies.

l) Promote the consumption of quality products.

m) Investigate, support research and studies, and collect data to understand the magnitude of the problem of food loss and waste (volumes, causes, responsibilities), as well as potential prevention solutions for all stages of the agri-food chain and sectors of the agri-food system.

n) Promote the creation of public-private and public-community networks that facilitate coordination in the prevention of surpluses and their subsequent management if they occur.

ñ) Ensure legislative coherence with the objective of reducing food loss and waste by coordinating existing legislative initiatives in this area and any others that may be developed after the publication of this law.

o) Support rigorous and periodically updated quantitative and qualitative measurement of food waste generated at the different stages of our food system.

p) Develop and implement, within the framework of their respective powers, the instruments and action programs established to achieve the objectives set forth in this law.

q) Include in school feeding programs awareness and information elements and measures to educate on loss prevention and food waste reduction.

r) Develop good practice guides for charities, aimed at providing information on how to ensure the traceability of the food received.

2. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food:

a) It will measure and analyse food waste and consumer waste outside the home, using methodologies that allow for recurring comparisons of the temporal evolution in the prevention of food losses and waste, in accordance with the parameters established in Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/2587.

b) It will publish its food waste measurement data periodically, at least annually.

c) It will publish all available information related to food waste at each stage of the chain using open, machine-readable formats, along with its metadata, in accordance with the specifications of Law 37/2007, of 16 November, on the reuse of public sector information, and in particular will ensure that the information made public at any given time is subject to the general conditions for reuse provided for in Article 8 of the aforementioned law.

d) It will promote collaboration between different agents in the chain to achieve the objectives set out in this law.

e) It will establish the necessary channels of coordination and cooperation with other affected Ministries and with the autonomous communities, in order to ensure that administrative control criteria are comprehensive, coordinated, equivalent, and proportionate throughout the national territory.

3. Within the framework of the Strategic Plan provided for in Article 17, the autonomous communities will develop programming instruments for basic and complementary measures to achieve the objectives set forth in this law, in dialogue with the local administrations in their territory.

4. To achieve the above objectives, the Government may establish specific objectives by year and link in the chain, also considering incentive measures for prevention or reduction.

CHAPTER III

Good practice measures for food chain agents

Article 12. Good practice measures to be carried out by companies that sell food to the final consumer.

1. Companies must ensure improved information on the safety of consuming products with imperfections or defects, promote sales lines for these products, as well as for more sustainably produced foods, always complying with the provisions of current marketing regulations in the European Union.

2. Public administrations, together with companies that sell food to the final consumer, may implement the following voluntary measures:

a) Provide adequate infrastructure so that handling, storage and transportation processes are carried out under optimal conditions, minimizing food loss and waste.

b) Work on the development of specific protocols to minimize food losses and waste throughout the transport and storage chain.

c) Encourage the sale of products with a best-before or expiration date approaching, in accordance with the hierarchy of priorities.

d) In the case of retail establishments, have sales lines with "ugly", "imperfect" or "unattractive" products, always complying with the provisions of the marketing regulations in force in the European Union, promote the consumption of seasonal, local, organic and environmentally sustainable products and incorporate and improve information on food use.

e) In the case of retail establishments, display information on the safety and benefits of consuming products with imperfections or defects in a visible place for consumers.

f) Train and raise awareness among individuals, whether employed or volunteering, to actively participate in preventing and reducing food loss and waste and involve them in this action.

g) Display in a visible place for consumers proposals for dissemination by the competent authorities regarding better menu planning, shopping, sustainable purchasing (such as fresh, seasonal, local or organic foods), recycled cooking, good storage practices, correct interpretation of expiration and best-before dates, and recycling and packaging materials to raise consumer awareness on these issues.

h) Promote information and awareness campaigns to prevent food loss and waste and raise awareness of the impact on economic, social, and environmental sustainability that this entails, and raise awareness of the need to promote responsible consumption.

i) Promote good business practices to prevent food loss and waste.

j) Promote or collaborate with civic, community, citizen participation and volunteer projects that aim to raise awareness and promote practices to prevent food loss and waste, preferably projects for social and labor integration or care for vulnerable groups.

Article 13. Good practice measures for the hospitality sector and other food service providers.

Public administrations, along with the hospitality sector and other food service providers, may implement the following measures:

a) Promote, whenever feasible – taking into account activities that, due to their special characteristics or theme, must acquire products other than local products to ensure that they meet the services offered and consumer expectations – the incorporation of sustainable purchasing criteria (such as fresh, seasonal, local or organic foods) to reduce the environmental footprint and promote the local economy.

b) Promote flexible menus so that consumers can choose different-sized side dishes or portions.

c) Promote food donations for social purposes and other types of redistribution for human consumption.

d) Promote the delivery of food waste to composting facilities in accordance with waste regulations.

e) Improve the quality of the segregated organic fraction, for its proper delivery to food waste composting facilities in accordance with waste regulations.

f) Train and raise awareness among individuals, whether employed or volunteering, to actively participate in preventing and reducing food loss and waste and involve them in this action.

g) Promote information and awareness campaigns to prevent food loss and waste and raise awareness of the impact on economic, social and environmental sustainability that this entails, and raise awareness of the need to promote responsible consumption.

CHAPTER IV

Rationalization of best-before dates

Article 14. Rationalization of best-before dates.

1. The Government will adopt public policies and measures to promote the adaptation of best-before dates to the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste. To this end, the criteria established by the European Union in the legislative and non-legislative provisions on the matter will be taken into account, in particular Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011, Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004, Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin and the Commission Communication with guidelines on food safety management systems for the activities of food retailers, including food donation (2020/C199/01).

2. All administrations:

a) They will carry out training and information activities on the correct interpretation of expiration and best-before dates for consumers, as well as for distributors and producers.

b) They will encourage agents in the food chain to adjust the best-before dates of their products, to the maximum extent that guarantees adequate product quality and food safety.

c) They will promote research and innovation on the viability of foods to extend their shelf life.

d) They will carry out industrial studies and research aimed at improving the marking of best-before dates in relation to food quality, as well as optimizing production volume and improving processing, storage, and logistics processes to minimize food waste.

CHAPTER V

Instruments for promoting and controlling the reduction and prevention of food losses and waste

Article 15. Incentives for good practices.

Public administrations will implement measures that encourage the implementation of the good practices for reducing waste included in Articles 12 and 13, in accordance with the entities referred to in each article.

Article 16. Promotion of self-regulation.

Public administrations will promote voluntary regulation systems for agents in the supply chain, among others, with the participation of public administrations and interested civil society.

Article 17. Planning of the policy for the prevention and reduction of food losses and waste.

1. The Government, in accordance with the guidelines established by the European institutions and proposed by the Ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Industry and Tourism; for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge; Economy, Trade and Business; Social Rights, Consumption and the 2030 Agenda; and Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, after consulting the autonomous communities and local authorities, will prepare a Strategic Plan for the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste. This plan will contain the general strategy for food waste policy, the guidelines and structure to which regional programs must adhere, as well as the minimum objectives to be met for the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste. This plan will be consistent with the strategic planning for food waste, from which it will draw all relevant data.

To this end, the measures in this Strategic Plan will be included in the specific section for reducing food waste in the State Waste Prevention Program, drawn up in accordance with Article 19 of Law 7/2022 of April 8.

2. Regional planning or programming instruments will be developed after relevant consultations and will contain an updated analysis of the food loss and waste situation in their territorial area, the objectives to be achieved, which will be consistent with those of the strategic plan, as well as a statement of the measures to facilitate the achievement of said objectives.

These programs will reflect the objectives not achieved in previous programming, along with possible corrective measures, and will determine specific qualitative or quantitative benchmarks appropriate for assessing progress made in preventing and reducing food loss and waste.

3. Local entities, within the scope of their powers, may individually or collectively develop food waste management programs in accordance with and in coordination with the Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste and with regional programs.

4. In developing these plans and programs, special consideration will be given to measures that significantly reduce food loss and waste. In the case of managing surpluses whose generation could not be prevented, priority will be given to reducing poverty and ensuring food security.

5. Plans and programs will be evaluated and reviewed at least every four years.

6. All planning instruments provided for in this article shall be developed through a participatory process involving at least the most representative organizations of the agri-food sector in the corresponding territorial area, as well as organizations promoting the right to food.

Article 18. National Plan for the control of food losses and waste.

1. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, following a report from the Ministries of Industry and Tourism; for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge; for the Economy, Trade, and Business; for Social Rights, Consumption, and the 2030 Agenda; and for Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, and after consulting the autonomous communities, will approve a National Plan for the control of food loss and waste, which will be reviewed at least every four years and will contain the general objectives and priorities of the control tasks to be carried out by the competent administrations in this area.

This plan may be integrated into the Strategic Plan for the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste.

2. The controls established for this purpose by the competent authorities shall be systematic and sufficiently frequent in the places where agricultural or food products are produced, processed, stored, distributed or marketed and, occasionally, at any time and place where such products circulate or are found.

3. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will establish the necessary channels of coordination and cooperation to ensure that administrative control criteria are comprehensive, coordinated, equivalent, and proportionate throughout the national territory.

Article 19. Annual report.

1. On an annual basis, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food will prepare a report containing the results of the implementation of the National Plan for the Control of Food Loss and Waste, developed by the competent public administrations, and the quantifications of food loss and waste. This report, after consulting the autonomous communities, will be sent to the Cortes Generales for information and monitoring purposes and will be made available to the competent public administrations, the Secretary of State for the Environment, and the public.

2. To this end, the competent authorities shall provide the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with the necessary information, and the timeframe and method for providing the necessary information shall be established by regulation.

3. The General State Administration will provide the authorities carrying out controls with all information that may have an impact on the control.

4. This report will take into account the information available pursuant to Article 65.5.b) of Law 7/2022, of April 8.

CHAPTER VI

Sanctioning regime

Article 20. Infractions.

1. Violations related to food loss and waste shall be classified as very serious, serious, and minor.

Such violations shall be compatible with any applicable civil, criminal, or other liability, and in particular with the application of sanctioning regimes related to waste and contaminated soil, food quality, consumption, trade, hygiene, public health, and food safety, when the basis for punishment is different.

2. The autonomous communities, if they regulate the prevention of food loss and waste at the regional level, will consider the following infractions:

a) Minor infractions:

1. Failure to apply the hierarchy of priorities in waste management to food or failure to adequately justify its lack of application, in accordance with the provisions of Article 5.2.

2. In the event that food industries, retail food distribution companies and hospitality and catering companies are obliged, as indicated in article 6, not to donate unsold food that is still fit for human consumption in the terms set out in the corresponding agreement or convention, provided that they have sufficient means to do so and the reason is not contemplated in their prevention plan, in accordance with article 5.2., with social initiative entities and other non-profit organizations or food banks.

3. Failure to comply with the commitments contained in the sectoral guide to good practices for food waste prevention and reduction, which is applicable to the company.

4. Expressly prohibit the donation of food by contractual stipulation.

5. In the case of companies and social initiative entities and other non-profit organizations dedicated to the distribution of food for donation, do not deliver surplus food to disadvantaged people, unless said food is not in a condition suitable for human consumption for a justified reason beyond the control of the entity, in which case it will not be considered an infraction.

6. Failure to cooperate with public administrations in quantifying food waste.

b) Serious violations:

1. Not having a business plan for the prevention and reduction of food waste and residue, if required to do so.

2. Discriminate in access to the distribution of donated food for any reason, cause, circumstance or condition.

2.º bis. Intentional destruction or alteration of food that is suitable for consumption.

3. The second or subsequent minor infraction that involves repetition with any other minor infraction committed within a period of two years, counting from the sanction by a final resolution in the administrative procedure of the first of them.

c) A very serious infraction is considered to be the second or subsequent serious infraction that involves repetition with any other serious infraction committed within a period of two years, counting from the sanction by a final resolution in administrative proceedings of the first of them, except for that provided for in section b) 3.

Article 21. Sanctions.

For the purposes of this law, and without prejudice to the provisions of other applicable sectoral regulations, the sanctions to be imposed by the competent authority in its corresponding area will be:

a) Minor infractions will be punished with a warning or a fine of up to 2,000 euros.

b) Serious violations will be punished with a fine of between 2,001 and 60,000 euros.

c) Very serious violations will be punished with a fine of between 60,001 and 500,000 euros.

However, the autonomous communities may increase these thresholds and establish other additional or accessory sanctions in their respective laws.

Article 22. Correction.

Once the inspection has verified the existence of non-compliance and irregularities that could give rise to a minor infraction under this regulation, the interested party may be granted an appropriate and sufficient period of time to correct them.

Article 23. Limitation period for violations.

1. The violations provided for in this law shall expire within the following time periods:

a) Minor infractions: six months.

b) Serious violations: one year.

c) Very serious violations: two years.

2. The statute of limitations for violations shall be calculated from the date on which they were committed. For violations in which the conduct entails a permanent obligation for the perpetrator, the statute of limitations shall be calculated from the date the activity ceases.

3. The statute of limitations for infractions shall be interrupted by the initiation of the corresponding sanctioning procedure with the knowledge of the interested party, and the statute of limitations shall resume if the procedure is paralyzed for more than one month for reasons not attributable to the alleged offender.

First additional provision. Quantification of food waste.

Public administrations will promote the necessary means for measuring food waste, according to Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597 of 3 May 2019 supplementing Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to a common methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of food waste.

To this end, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the National Statistics Institute and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge will establish collaboration mechanisms for the exchange of information to comply with the obligations to quantify food waste, all in accordance with the methodology established in Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597 of 3 May 2019.

Likewise, the procedures for obtaining this information may be developed by regulation under the terms established in Article 18.6 of Law 7/2022, of April 8, as well as the conditions for submitting said information by agents in the food chain to the competent authorities.

Second additional provision. Declaration of general interest for natural trails.

The following rural infrastructure projects, consisting of the construction of natural paths, are declared to be of general interest:

1. Guadalquivir Natural Path and its connection with other axes (Andalusia, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha).

2. Mediterranean Route Natural Trail (Andalusia and Region of Murcia).

Third Additional Provision. Content of the Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste and of the Regional Programs.

The measures included in the Strategic Plan for the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste, which, in accordance with Article 17.1 of this Law, will form part of the specific section for the reduction of food waste in the State Waste Prevention Programme drawn up in accordance with Article 19 of Law 7/2022, of April 8, must be implemented in compliance with the provisions of the European Union in this regard, once they are adopted.

Likewise, regional programming instruments must take into account the same considerations mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Fourth Additional Provision. Implementation of government aid to the olive and vineyard sectors.

1. Within a maximum period of two months, the Government will establish exceptional aid for agricultural holdings in the olive and vineyard sectors, to compensate for the decrease in income received by producers as a result of the increase in production costs caused by the rise in the price of inputs, resulting from the situation created by the invasion of Ukraine, a situation that has been aggravated by the decrease in the harvest due to the impact of the drought.

2. This aid will be intended for the owners of farms classified as priority, as well as owners of farms who are primarily farmers, in accordance with Law 19/1995, of July 4, on the Modernization of Agricultural Holdings, with areas of olive groves and vineyards in dry land or under irrigation due to the climatic situation.

3. The aid will be endowed with a fund of 85 million euros for dry-farmed vineyard areas and 285 million euros for dry-farmed olive groves, and any necessary budgetary modifications will be required.

4. The aid will be implemented through a direct granting procedure that ensures rapid receipt by farmers and safeguards the rights of those affected by the digital divide in their relations with the government.

Fifth Additional Provision. Declaration of general interest for certain irrigation modernization projects.

1. The following irrigation modernization works are declared to be of general interest:

a) Irrigation modernization and improvement project for the Sierra Nevada Ravines irrigation community in Abla and Abrucena, Almería.

b) Modernization works for the irrigation of the Irrigation Community of the La Retención Canal in the municipal areas of Ribas de Campos, Monzón de Campos, Grijota, Villaumbrales, Becerril de Campos, Husillos and Palencia (Palencia).

c) Modernization works on the irrigation system in Torreblanca (Ponts) and Basella (a sector of said municipality and another of Pinell), within the framework of the compensation irrigation of the Rialb reservoir (Lleida).

d) Project to expand the irrigation area of section II of the Najerilla Left Bank Canal in Alesanco (La Rioja).

e) Project to expand the Fuente River in Navarrete (La Rioja).

f) Modernization of irrigation in the Bajo Tuerto Irrigation Community (Irrigation communities of the Los Tres Concejos, San Félix, Villarnera and Santibáñez de la Isla dam, La Manga dam, Santa María de la Isla, Barrientos and Posadilla de la Vega dam, San Esteban dam, Bajo Tuerto and the irrigation groups of Toralino and Toral de Fondo) (León).

g) Modernization of irrigation in Sector V of the Irrigation Zone of the Left Bank Canal of El Porma (León).

h) Modernization of irrigation in the El Moro Dam Irrigation Community (León).

i) Modernization and consolidation of irrigation in the Irrigation Community of the Duerna Irrigation Zone (León).

j) Transformation into irrigated land of 12,000 hectares in the La Armuña Irrigation Zone, Phase II (Salamanca).

k) Modernization and consolidation works of the irrigation systems of the Central Board of Irrigators of the Axarquía (Left Bank) (Málaga).

l) Improvement and modernization works on the irrigation systems of the Motril Irrigation Community (Granada).

m) Modernization works on the irrigation systems of the San Roque Irrigation Community (Murcia).

n) Modernization project to improve water management in the Tajo-Segura Transfer Irrigation Community of Sangonera la Seca (Murcia Region).

2. The works included in this additional provision will carry the following declarations:

a) That of public utility for the purposes set forth in articles 9, 10 and 11 of the Law of December 16, 1954, on Compulsory Expropriation.

b) The urgent one for the purposes of the occupation of the affected assets referred to in article 52 of the Law of December 16, 1954.

3. This declaration of general interest will allow the compulsory expropriations required for said works and the urgent occupation of the affected properties.

Sixth Additional Provision. Determining the representativeness of professional agricultural organizations at the state level.

The determination of the representativeness of professional agricultural organizations at the state level will be established in accordance with the rules contained in this provision:

Rule One. Requirements that organizations must meet in order to participate in the procedure for determining representativeness.

Entities that meet the following requirements as of December 31 of the year prior to the initiation of the procedure established by rule three may apply for recognition as the most representative organizations at the state level:

a) Be constituted and recognized as general, state-wide professional agricultural organizations under Law 19/1977, of April 1, on the regulation of the right to union association, and have their statutes registered in the Registry of the competent state-wide labor authority as a business organization with at least one year of seniority at the date of publication of the respective resolution to initiate the procedure for measuring representativeness provided for in the third rule.

b) Certify, through its statutes:

1. That they be professional agricultural organizations of a general nature, not sectoral.

2. That they have among their statutory objectives and purposes the defense of the general interests of agriculture, understanding this to be agricultural, livestock and forestry activities, and the defense and promotion of the professional, economic and social interests of the owners of agricultural and livestock farms.

3. That they have a state scope.

If the entity requesting recognition is made up of organizations of a lower scope (regional, provincial or island) and of a general, non-sectoral nature, while each of them retains its original name and legal personality, this integration must be accredited by any legal document that reliably proves it and is at least six months old at the date of the request for recognition.

c) Have effective implementation and activity in at least seven autonomous communities.

Rule Two. Criteria for determining representativeness.

1. The representativeness of professional agricultural organizations at the state level shall be determined exclusively by the representativeness certificates issued by the autonomous communities, in accordance with the established representativeness recognition systems or, where applicable, the implementation situations in each of them. These certificates must be sent to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food.

2. The certifications of representativeness mentioned in the previous article will be carried out based on the following criteria:

a) In those autonomous communities that have legislation in force, proving their status as most representative, in accordance with the processes legislatively established by the autonomous communities for determining their status as most representative, for the purposes of the autonomous Administration and which are in force, in those autonomous communities that have held voting processes, in accordance with the data resulting from the most recent of them.

b) In those autonomous communities that have legislation in force to establish the greatest representativeness, by accrediting said condition, corresponding to the data.

c) Subsidiarily, in the remaining autonomous communities, through accreditation of the institutional participation of professional agricultural organizations in the autonomous communities. This will take into account their participation in the institutional bodies of the autonomous communities or their participation in the standard-making processes within them.

3. Any organization wishing to apply for recognition as the most representative professional agricultural organization at the state level must submit the corresponding certificates from the respective autonomous communities that prove its greater representativeness or implementation in accordance with the provisions of letters a), b) and c) of section 2.

4. Once the corresponding certificates from the autonomous communities have been received by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the status of the most representative at the national level of each of the professional agricultural organizations will be determined.

5. To achieve the status of most representative at the state level, a professional agricultural organization must achieve the greatest representation and/or accreditation of institutional participation in at least seven autonomous communities in accordance with the provisions of letters a), b) and c) of section 2.

6. Among those that meet the requirement set forth in section 5, the agricultural professional organization will also be required to reach at least a figure equivalent to at least 10% of the total national membership in the RETA system (Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers) and SETA self-employed (Special System for Agricultural Workers).

This percentage will be calculated as follows:

a) For the autonomous communities that have certified in accordance with section 2 a), the votes obtained will be counted and the percentage they represent will be calculated as equivalents with respect to the number of workers affiliated with the RETA system (Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers) and SETA self-employed (Special System for Agricultural Workers) of said community.

b) For the autonomous communities that have certified in accordance with section 2 b), the members of the organization recognized in the certificate will be counted, and the percentage that they represent as equivalents with respect to the number of members in the RETA system (Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers) and SETA self-employed (Special System for Agricultural Workers) of said community will be calculated.

c) For the autonomous communities that have certified in accordance with section 2 c), the number of organizations will be taken into account, attributing in equal percentages to each of those listed in the certificate the number of members in the RETA system (Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers) and SETA self-employed (Special System for Agricultural Workers) of said community.

Rule Three. Initiation of proceedings.

To determine representativeness, the Undersecretariat of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will agree to initiate the procedure for its determination by means of a resolution, which will be published on the notice board of the Department's associated electronic headquarters, in accordance with Article 45 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, giving interested organizations one month to submit the documentation that accredits such status.

Rule Four. Processing of the procedure.

1. Once the application has been received, accompanied by the relevant documentation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will verify that the entities meet the requirements of the first rule, so that it can be verified that among their statutory purposes is the defense of the general interests of agriculture, which will be accredited by the statutes of incorporation registered as provided for in Law 19/1977, of April 1, from which it can be easily deduced such general and agricultural, not sectoral, nature, and the development of the activity at the state level, as well as the possibility of affiliation of any member regardless of their residence, for its admission to processing.

2. Once the applications have been admitted for processing, and in light of the documentation provided, compliance with the conditions of the second rule will be verified.

3. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food may, where appropriate, verify the criteria and documentation provided.

Rule Five. Resolution of the procedure.

1. Once the processing has been completed, the Undersecretariat of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will declare, with reasons, the most representative professional agricultural organizations at the state level, through the respective individual resolutions, when it determines that the conditions established in the second rule are met.

2. It shall also issue a resolution rejecting or rejecting the remaining applications.

3. All resolutions must be published in the Official State Gazette on the same day.

Rule Six. Validity of recognition.

1. The validity of the resolutions declaring representativeness will be five years from the date of their publication.

Before the expiration of the first resolutions, the Government must promote and propose, in consultation with the autonomous communities and the most representative professional agricultural organizations at the state level, a new system for accrediting the representativeness of professional farmers at the state level based on objective, precise, and legally established criteria. The fundamental basis for this system is elections among those registered with the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers of the Social Security System for their agricultural, livestock, or forestry activities.

2. Three months before the expiration of its validity, the Undersecretariat will initiate a new resolution to initiate the procedure for determining representativeness in accordance with the rules set forth in this provision.

3. However, its validity will remain temporary until the publication of the resolutions that put an end to the corresponding representativeness measurement procedure.

4. In the event of a split or division of a professional agricultural organization, only the entity that retains ownership of the NIF of the organization that obtained recognition as such will retain the status of the most representative professional agricultural organization, without prejudice to the possibility, where appropriate, of participating in the following representativeness measurement procedure.

Rule Seven. General effects of recognition.

Professional agricultural organizations of a general nature that, in accordance with the criteria of this provision, are recognized as the most representative at the state level will perform institutional representation functions in defense of their interests before the General State Administration and other state entities or agencies, and will have the rights inherent to their status as such.

Eighth Rule. Agrarian Council.

1. The general agricultural professional organizations that, in accordance with this provision, are recognized as the most representative at the state level, shall form part of the Agricultural Council, which is established as the advisory collegiate body attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with the purpose of advising the General State Administration on matters of general agricultural and rural interest, with its regulation being developed by regulations.

2. The functions of the Agrarian Council are the following:

a) To be informed of the department's regulatory projects on agriculture and rural development that are submitted for consideration.

b) To be aware of and report on the measures of the Common Agricultural Policy and the agricultural policy that are submitted for its consideration.

c) Report on the evolution of the social and economic situation of the agricultural sector and make recommendations for the adoption of those measures deemed necessary to improve the quality of life in the agricultural sector.

d) Make suggestions deemed appropriate to improve policies that may affect the socioeconomic conditions of agricultural professionals and agricultural activity.

e) To be aware of and report on matters submitted by its President for its consideration.

3. The Agricultural Council is composed of two councilors proposed by each of the most representative professional agricultural organizations at the state level, appointed by the Minister, who will preside over it, and an equivalent number of representatives from the Department, all in accordance with the principle of balanced presence of women and men set out in Organic Law 3/2007, of March 22, for the effective equality of women and men.

Rule Nine. Other participatory bodies.

1. Sectoral regulations that include the participation of the most representative professional agricultural organizations at the national level shall be adapted within six months to guarantee the participation of all professional agricultural organizations declared to be the most representative, at any given time, at the national level in accordance with this provision.

2. Likewise, the results of the successive processes to determine representativeness will be communicated to the corresponding international and supranational organizations in which the agricultural sector is represented.

Rule Ten. Direct subsidies.

1. Pursuant to article 22.2.b) of Law 38/2003, of 17 November, General Subsidies, a direct grant is established, effective from 2 January 2025, in favour of the professional agricultural organisations that have been declared the most representative at the state level, for representation and collaboration activities before the General State Administration and the European Union or other institutions in these areas, as determined in the respective call.

2. The amount collected in the General State Budget for this purpose each year shall be distributed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as established in the respective call for proposals, and subsidies may not be awarded on a competitive basis for the same purposes.

Rule Eleven. Deadline for initiating the first procedure to determine the status of the most representative agricultural professional organization at the state level.

The Undersecretariat of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food shall agree to initiate the first procedure for determining the status of the most representative professional agricultural organization at the state level in accordance with this provision within three months of the entry into force of this additional provision, as provided for in the second paragraph of the final provision of this law relating to the entry into force.

Rule Twelfth. Temporary representation of professional agricultural organizations at the state level.

Until they are declared the most representative professional agricultural organizations at the state level in accordance with this provision, those that obtained such recognition under previous legislation will retain their status as the most representative.

Seventh additional provision. Regulation of gleaning.

The autonomous communities will be able to regulate gleaning or gleaning as a non-profit complementary activity aimed at preventing food loss and waste.

Eighth Additional Provision. Control of natural predatory species in the efficiency of the production system.

The measures for the extraction and capture of wolf specimens, and in general, of any predatory species that have a high impact on the production system, will comply with the requirements established to guarantee the conservation of native wild species. In particular, for those included in the List of Wild Species under Special Protection, the applicable regime will be that provided for in Article 61 of Law 42/2007, of December 13, on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity. For these purposes, exceptional authorizations, in addition to those for the reasons provided for in Article 61.1, may be justified based on the efficiency of the production system.

Prior to their submission to the European Commission, the Sectoral Conference on the Environment, at the proposal of the State Commission for Natural Heritage and Biodiversity, will approve the six-yearly reports provided for in Article 17 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

Sole transitional provision. Adaptation to European regulations.

The modification of the protection regime for wolf populations in the south of the Duero in the annexes of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, which entails its inclusion in the Annex of animal and plant species of Community interest whose collection in the wild and exploitation may be subject to management measures, will determine the automatic modification of Royal Decree 139/2011, of 4 February, for the development of the List of Wild Species under Special Protection Regime and the Spanish Catalogue of Endangered Species for their effective exclusion from the List of Wild Species under Special Protection Regime.

Sole repealing provision. Regulatory repeal.

All provisions that conflict with this law are hereby repealed, in particular Law 12/2014 of July 9, which regulates the procedure for determining the representativeness of professional agricultural organizations and creates the Agricultural Council.

Likewise, Order APM/476/2018, of April 30, which establishes the regulatory bases for the granting of subsidies to associative entities representing the agricultural and food sector for the development of collaborative and representation activities before the General State Administration and the European Union, as well as for the performance of specific activities of special interest to the Spanish agri-food sector, is hereby repealed.

First final provision. Amendment to Royal Decree 705/1997, of 16 May, approving the Regulations of Law 38/1994, of 30 December, regulating Interprofessional Agri-Food Organizations, as amended by Law 13/1996, of 30 December, on fiscal, administrative and social order measures.

With the safeguard of its rank, Royal Decree 705/1997, of May 16, approving the Regulation of Law 38/1994, of December 30, regulating Agri-Food Interprofessional Organizations, modified by Law 13/1996, of December 30, on fiscal, administrative and social order measures, is modified in the following terms:

One. The fifth paragraph of letter c) of section 2 of article 23 is worded as follows:

"Two members from each of the most representative professional agricultural organizations at the national level."

Two. The third paragraph of letter c) of section 3 of article 23 is worded as follows:

"One member from each of the most representative professional agricultural organizations at the national level."

Second Final Provision. Amendment to Royal Decree 388/1998, of March 13, amending the General Commission of the State Agricultural Insurance Entity and the Commission for Coordination with the Autonomous Communities on agricultural insurance.

With the safeguard of its rank, letter e) of article 1 is modified and a letter e bis) is added to Royal Decree 388/1998, of March 13, which modifies the General Commission of the State Entity for Agricultural Insurance and the Commission for Coordination with the Autonomous Communities, on agricultural insurance, which is worded as follows:

«e) A member representing the organizations of agricultural cooperatives at the state level.

e bis) One member from each of the professional agricultural organisations declared to be the most representative at the state level.»

Third Final Provision. Amendment to Royal Decree 1164/2001, of October 26, establishing access rates for electricity transmission and distribution networks.

Section 7 is added to Article 4. General conditions of access tariff contracts, which is worded as follows:

«7. The specific conditions applicable to access contracts for holders of agricultural holdings, whether self-employed or companies, including agricultural cooperatives and irrigation communities subject to seasonality, will be as follows:

They may exercise their right to an access contract, offering two different power levels over a 12-month period, depending on the supply needs for their activity, by simply contacting their supplier electronically and/or by telephone. To this end, the supplying companies will provide a toll-free telephone number. Power term prices will not increase in any way compared to the applicable rates, provided that the established price is consistent with the security and economic and financial sustainability of the system as set out in Article 13 of Law 24/2013, of December 26, as well as with applicable Community regulations.

Fourth Final Provision. Amendment to Law 43/2002, of November 20, on Plant Health.

Law 43/2002, of November 20, on plant health, is amended as follows:

One. A new Article 9a is added with the following content:

"Article 9 bis. Measures in the case of species whose introduction is prohibited.

The competent authority, upon detecting plantations or crops, plants and their products, as well as related material, of species or varieties whose introduction into national territory is prohibited or which lack the proper authorization due to non-compliance with the phytosanitary requirements for their production, shall immediately adopt the measure of destruction (unless it assesses the relevance of adopting other less burdensome but also effective alternative measures) to prevent the spread of pests that could have potential economic importance or significant environmental repercussions, after consulting, in the case of forest species, the competent body in environmental matters.

Two. Letter c) of Article 56 is amended as follows:

«c) Failure to comply with the measures established by the competent Administration to combat or prevent the introduction of pests of an extraordinarily serious nature, or to combat or mitigate their effects.»

Fifth Final Provision. Amendment to Law 8/2003, of April 24, on Animal Health.

Law 8/2003, of April 24, on animal health, is amended as follows:

One. Section 18 of Article 3 is worded as follows:

«18. Zoosanitary products: active substances or ingredients, as well as formulations or preparations containing one or more of them, intended for the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, relief or cure of animal diseases or ailments, to modify bodily functions, induce or reinforce organic defenses or achieve reactions that demonstrate them.

This definition shall include, along with other animal health products, veterinary medicines and biocides for livestock use and those used in the presence of other animals, which shall be governed by their specific applicable regulations, without prejudice to the express provisions regarding them in this law.

Other animal health products: reagents for diagnosing animal diseases, systems for monitoring physiological parameters in animals, and products intended for the maintenance of animal reproductive material (preservatives and diluents for semen, oocytes and embryos) that do not contain substances with medicinal action, except for those substances whose action is to preserve the product.

Two. Letter i) of section 1 of article 7 is amended as follows:

«i) Assume the costs arising from the custody, transport, storage, feeding, slaughter, destruction and, in general, of all kinds, in relation to animals, products of animal origin, animal health products and products for animal feed, which are under their responsibility and which arise from health measures, including safeguard and precautionary measures that may be adopted by the competent authorities.»

Three. Sections 15 and 16 of Article 83 are worded as follows:

«15. Failure to notify, without justified cause, veterinary prescriptions to the Presvet database or to the regional databases, if they exist, within the time limits established in the regulations, by the prescribing veterinarian, or the communication of erroneous data to such databases by the prescribing veterinarian.

16. Failure to implement the corrective measures included in the Comprehensive Health Plan provided for in the regulations within the established timeframe.

Four. Sections 26 and 28 of Article 84 are amended to read as follows, and section 29 is deleted:

«26. The performance of activities specific to the veterinary profession by persons who do not hold the corresponding veterinary degree or graduate qualification, when they do not constitute the crime of professional intrusion.»

«28. The second or subsequent minor infraction that involves a repeat offense with another minor infraction committed within a period of two years, counting from the sanction by a final administrative resolution of the first of them.»

Five. Section 17 of Article 85 is amended to read as follows:

«17. The second or subsequent serious infraction that involves a repeat of another serious infraction committed within a period of two years, counting from the sanction imposed by a final administrative resolution for the first of them.»

Sixth Final Provision. Amendment to Law 24/2003, of July 10, on Vines and Wine.

Law 24/2003, of July 10, on Vineyards and Wine, is amended as follows:

One. Letter m) of section 1 of article 38 is incorporated, which is worded as follows:

«m) Failure to use a new planting, replanting or conversion permit granted, except in the cases established in national or European Union regulations.»

Two. Letter q) of section 1 of article 39 is deleted.

Three. A paragraph is added to section 1 of article 42 with the following wording:

«In the case of the infringement referred to in article 38.1.m), when it involves a failure to use a replanting or conversion permit granted, a warning will always be applied, and, in the case of a failure to use a new planting permit granted, the amount of the penalty will be proportional to the area of the permit not executed, as a determining criterion of the nature of the damage caused.»

Seventh Final Provision. Amendment to Order ARM/2616/2010, of October 5, establishing the composition and functioning of the Participation Committee within the framework of the Interministerial Council on Genetically Modified Organisms.

With the preservation of its rank, point 1 of letter d) of section 1 of article 2 of Order ARM/2616/2010, of October 5, which establishes the composition and operation of the Participation Committee within the framework of the Interministerial Council of Genetically Modified Organisms, is modified, which is worded as follows:

«1. One member from each of the professional agricultural organizations declared to be the most representative at the state level.»

Eighth Final Provision. Amendment to Royal Decree 227/2014, of April 4, approving the Statute of the Food Information and Control Agency.

With the safeguarding of its rank, the ninth indent of letter c) of section 2 of article 6 of Royal Decree 227/2014, of April 4, which approves the Statute of the Food Information and Control Agency, is modified and is worded as follows:

«– One member from each of the professional agricultural organizations declared to be the most representative at the state level, among which the presence of the organizations that represent the interests of the sectors or markets referred to in letter g) of article 3 of this statute will be ensured.

Ninth Final Provision. Amendment to Royal Decree 833/2014, of October 3, establishing and regulating the General Registry of Organic Operators and creating the Organic Production Coordination Board.

To safeguard its rank, the first paragraph of the second additional provision of Royal Decree 833/2014, of October 3, which establishes and regulates the General Registry of Organic Operators and creates the Organic Production Coordination Board, is modified, which is worded as follows:

"The Directorate General for Food will regularly convene a sectoral participation forum attended by representatives from each of the most representative professional agricultural organizations at the national level, as well as agricultural cooperatives, business organizations, and other organizations and institutions of recognized representativeness and expertise in the field of organic production."

Tenth Final Provision. Amendment to Royal Decree 64/2015, of 6 February, which partially implements Law 12/2013, of 2 August, on measures to improve the functioning of the food chain, and amends the Regulation of Law 38/1994, of 30 December, regulating interprofessional agri-food organisations, approved by Royal Decree 705/1997, of 16 May.

Without prejudice to its rank, the fourth indent of letter c) of section 1 of article 11 of Royal Decree 64/2015, of February 6, which partially develops Law 12/2013, of August 2, on measures to improve the functioning of the food chain, is modified, and the Regulation of Law 38/1994, of December 30, regulating interprofessional agri-food organizations, approved by Royal Decree 705/1997, of May 16, is modified, which is worded as follows:

«– One member from each of the most representative professional agricultural organizations at the state level.»

Eleventh Final Provision. Amendment to the consolidated text of the Workers' Statute Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of October 23.

Section 2 of Article 15 of the consolidated text of the Workers' Statute Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015 of 23 October, is amended as follows:

«2. For the purposes of this article, production circumstances shall be understood to mean the occasional and unforeseeable increase in activity and fluctuations which, even if they are part of the company's normal activity, generate a temporary mismatch between the stable employment available and that required, provided that they do not respond to the assumptions included in article 16.1.

The fluctuations referred to in the previous paragraph shall be understood to include those arising from annual vacations.

When the fixed-term contract is based on these production circumstances, its duration may not exceed six months. The maximum contract duration may be extended to one year by sector-wide collective bargaining agreement.

If the contract was entered into for a duration shorter than the maximum legal or conventionally established duration, it may be extended, by agreement of the parties, for a single time only, without the total duration of the contract exceeding said maximum duration.

Likewise, companies may formalize contracts for production-related circumstances to address occasional, foreseeable situations of short and limited duration, as provided in this paragraph, including agricultural and agri-food campaigns. Companies may only use this contract for a maximum of ninety days in a calendar year, with the exception of companies in the agricultural and agri-food sector, which may use it for a total of 120 days in a calendar year, regardless of the number of employees required to address the specific situations on each of these days, which must be duly identified in the contract.

These ninety days, or one hundred and twenty days in the case of farms and companies in the agri-food sector, may not be used continuously. Companies must provide their employees' legal representatives with an annual forecast of the use of these contracts in the last quarter of each year.

In the agricultural, livestock, and forestry sectors and the industries associated with these sectors, this contract is valid for coverage of one or more short-term campaigns, with an annual limit of 120 actual days.

The execution of works within the framework of contracts, subcontracts or administrative concessions that constitute the company's usual or ordinary activity may not be identified as the cause of this contract, without prejudice to their celebration when the circumstances of production in the above terms occur.

Twelfth Final Provision. Amendment to Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts, transposing Directives 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 26, 2014, into Spanish law.

A paragraph is added at the end of section 1 of article 202 of Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts, which transposes into Spanish law Directives 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 26, 2014, with the following wording:

"When the conditions set forth in the first paragraph of this section are met, the procurement documents for food services in public institutions shall, as a special condition of execution, include compliance with appropriate practices from the perspective of food waste and compliance with Law 1/2025, of April 1, on the prevention of food loss and waste."

Thirteenth Final Provision. Amendment to Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy.

Sections 4 and 6 of Article 18 of Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy, are amended and will read as follows:

«4. In order to promote the prevention of single-use packaging, food retailers with a surface area equal to or greater than 400 square meters will promote their sales area to offer products presented without primary packaging, including sales in bulk or through reusable packaging, to promote the reduction of food waste and packaging generation.

All food establishments selling fresh produce and beverages, as well as cooked foods, must accept the use of reusable containers (bags, Tupperware, bottles, among others) that are appropriate for the product and properly sanitized, with consumers being responsible for their packaging. Such containers may be rejected by the retailer for service if they are visibly dirty or unsuitable. To this end, the point of sale must inform the end consumer about the cleanliness and suitability of the reusable containers.

(…)

«6. (…)

All agents in the food chain are obliged to collaborate with the Administrations in the quantification of food waste in order to comply with the obligation provided for in article 65.5 b), and in application of the provisions of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives.

Fourteenth Final Provision. Amendment to Law 30/2022, of December 23, regulating the management system of the Common Agricultural Policy and other related matters.

Section 6 is added to Article 8 of Law 30/2022, of December 23, regulating the management system of the Common Agricultural Policy and other related matters, with the following wording:

«6. The competent authorities may use the database provided for in the one hundred and twelfth additional provision of Law 31/2022, of December 23, on the General State Budget for the year 2023, in order to monitor the risk of conflict of interest in public employees and other personnel in the service of decision-making, implementing and instrumental entities that participate, individually or through their membership in collegiate bodies, in the execution of the Union budget, with regard to CAP interventions or measures financed with EAGF and EAFRD funds directly, indirectly and shared in management, including preparatory acts in this regard, audit or control.»

Fifteenth final provision. Jurisdictional title.

This law is enacted under the provisions of Article 149.1.13 of the Spanish Constitution, which grants the State jurisdiction over the bases and coordination of general planning of economic activity, as well as the provisions of Article 149.1.23, which grants the State jurisdiction over basic legislation on environmental protection, without prejudice to the powers of the Autonomous Communities to establish additional protection standards.

Sixteenth Final Provision. Authorization for regulatory development.

The Government of the Nation is empowered to issue, within the scope of its powers, the regulatory provisions necessary for the development and implementation of this law.

Seventeenth Final Provision. Tax regime for food donations.

The Government will establish, as soon as possible, the mechanism for the immediate application of the 0 percent rate to all deliveries of goods, in kind or cash, made as donations for the acquisition of food or basic necessities to non-profit entities defined in accordance with the provisions of article 2 of Law 49/2002, of December 23, on the tax regime of non-profit entities and tax incentives for patronage, in accordance with the provisions of article 91.Four of Law 37/1992, of December 28, on Value Added Tax.

This regime will apply exclusively to food and goods intended for donation, excluding products purchased for return to the retail market.

Eighteenth Final Provision. Amendment to Law 19/1995, of July 4, on the Modernization of Agricultural Holdings.

Letter c), section 1, article 4, of Law 19/1995, of July 4, on the Modernization of Agricultural Holdings is amended as follows:

«c) Having reached the age of eighteen and not having reached the ordinary retirement age that corresponds to the provisions of the consolidated text of the General Social Security Law.»

Nineteenth Final Provision. Amendment to Royal Decree 139/2011, of February 4, for the development of the List of Wild Species under Special Protection and the Spanish Catalogue of Endangered Species.

With safeguarding of its rank, the annex of Royal Decree 139/2011, of February 4, for the development of the List of Wild Species under Special Protection Regime and the Spanish Catalogue of Endangered Species, in relation to the species listed below is maintained in the List of Wild Species under Special Protection Regime, with modification of the populations referred to in the following terms:

Final provision twenty. Entry into force.

This law will enter into force on January 2, 2025.

However, the sixth additional provision, the repealing provision, and the first, second, and seventh to tenth final provisions shall enter into force on the day following the publication of this law in the Official State Gazette.

The mandatory measures contained in Article 6 of this law shall be applied one year after publication in the Official State Gazette.

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, both individuals and authorities, to observe and enforce this law.

Madrid, April 1, 2025.