On January 24th, a delegation from the Office of the EU Delegation to China, including Daniel Hachez (Minister Counselor, Head of Regional Cooperation), Pierre-Yves Lucas (Head of the Cooperation Project Team) and Feng Mei (Project Manager of the Cooperation Department), had an in-depth exchange with the project team implementers with the aim of discussing the latest progress of the project on the SAFE Project.

Project progress report and exchange discussion

During the keynote presentations and exchange discussions, project team members, the China Chain Store and Franchise Association (CCFA), the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL), and the Institute of Agriculture Economics and Development (IAED), actively shared the backgrounds of their respective organizations and their participation in the project.

Representatives from CCFA provided details of the project's training approach and progress, as well as the practical application of the reusable plastic crates, while representatives from IVL shared data and models from the research study, with particular emphasis on an in-depth discussion with Pierre-Yves Lucas on the recycling of the reusable plastic crates. For its part, Zhou IAED elaborated on the progress of the development of relevant standards and policies, as well as the actual impacts and effects of the project activities, and communicated with Daniel Hachez on the relevant data and training for farmers. In addition, the project team also shared and introduced the learning and exchanges during the "policy tours" in the Netherlands, Sweden, France and other countries. Finally, they summarized the overall progress and management of the project, and looked forward to the future work schedule.

Discussion and recommendations after the presentation

After the keynote presentation, Daniel Hachez presented the idea of supermarkets using reusable plastic crates and emphasized the importance of the SAFE Project. He recognized the dedication of the staff involved in the project and had an in-depth discussion with the participants on the use of reusable plastic crates by farmers and supermarkets, farmer training, and financial support.

Supermarket visit and in-depth exchanges

After the meeting, the EU delegation went to visit the Century City store of Jiajiayue Supermarket together with the participants. They discussed with the person in charge of Jiayue Supermarket about the use of reusable plastic crates, the type, the loss of fruits and vegetables in transportation, the treatment of loss of fruits and vegetables, the logistics and distribution of supermarkets, the production and use cost of farmers, and the support of the project to supermarkets. The person in charge of the supermarket said that the project has played a positive role in the standardization of the supermarket's processes and has conducted several training activities, which have provided substantial help to the supermarket's daily operations.

This exchange not only strengthened the cooperation between the EU Delegation and the project team members, but also promoted the further promotion of the SAFE Project  in China.