Moving from the ENVIFOOD Protocol to harmonized Product Category Rules and reference data: current and future challenges of the European Food Sustainable Consumption and Production Round Table

The ENVIFOOD Protocol is a food and drink-specific guidance document created by the European Food Sustainable Consumption and Production Roundtable, a multi stakeholder initiative co-chaired by the European Commission and business associations from the food and beverage supply chains. The Protocol has been published in November 2013 and shall be used as a complementary guidance to the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Organizational Environmental Footprint (OEF) guides in the PEF/OEF pilot testing launched by the European Commission. This paper describes the process of creating the ENVIFOOD Protocol as a consensus guidance document from the European food supply chain partners, and describes the key outcomes of the two public testing periods organized in 2013. Finally, we explain how the ENVIFOOD protocol is expected to be used as part of the PEF/OEF pilot testing, and the role it may play outside the application of the PEF/OEF guides.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen