European Salt Producers' Association
EUsalt
EUsalt is an international non-profit association with a multi-functional role.
ID: 03451096957-77
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Maxi Espeter (Cabinet of Commissioner Christophe Hansen)
26 Jan 2026 · Proposal to remove salt from the scope of the organic rules
Response to Modification of rules on organic trade and simplification
18 Nov 2025
EUsalt strongly supports the Commission's stated objective to simplify the regulatory framework, remove unnecessary complexity, and reduce the regulatory burden for the agri-food value chain. In this spirit, EUsalt believes that deleting salt from Annex I is a targeted, simplifying measure that respects the European Parliament's veto from 2023, prevents market distortion, consumer Confusion and policy incoherence and protects the credibility of the EU organic label. Our detailed position is attached.
Read full responseMeeting with Flavio Facioni (Cabinet of Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi) and Unilever and
18 Sept 2025 · Iodine deficiency in Europe
Response to Technical updates of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) State aid guidelines
5 Sept 2025
EUsalt represents European salt producers, an industry fundamental to the resilience and competitiveness of the EU's chemical value chains. Salt is a key raw material for many industries, particularly the chemical sector. Through the chlor-alkali process, salt is transformed into chlorine and caustic soda, indispensable for thousands of downstream products and applications, including: Pharmaceuticals and healthcare: disinfectants, medical devices, medicines, and vaccines; Water treatment: purification and safe drinking water supply; Renewable energy (transition) and digitization: polysilicium for solar panels and microchips, windmill blades, insulation materials; Construction: PVC and other essential building materials; Food and agriculture: preservation, nutrition, food security, and food safety. The European chemical industry relies on a secure and competitive supply of high-purity salt. Any disruption to the salt supply chain would have a cascading and detrimental effect on a wide range of downstream industries, undermining the EU's strategic autonomy and industrial ambitions. Salt production (NACE code B8.9.3 Extraction of salt), particularly through solution mining and vacuum evaporation, is inherently energy-intensive, relying heavily on electricity and natural gas. Energy costs, particularly electricity, as well as indirect CO2 prices, have unprecedently increased over the last years and have become a major concern for the competitiveness of the salt industry. As the sector increasingly innovates by electrification to integrate renewable and green energy, its vulnerability to electricity pricing will only intensify. This further underscores the need for protection to maintain a level playing field for the European salt and chemical sectors against international competitors. Despite this, the salt sector is excluded from the list of eligible sectors in the ETS State Aid Guidelines. This creates a significant disadvantage compared to competitors in regions with less ambitious climate policies. Without corrective measures, the risk of carbon leakage grows, with production shifting outside Europe and import dependency increasing. It is therefore crucial that the Guidelines update reflects current carbon price realities and relies on up-to-date quantitative assessments when determining eligibility. The EU Chemical Industry Action Plan rightly stresses the need to strengthen key value chains and ensure global competitiveness. To achieve this, the updated Guidelines must recognize the strategic importance of salt and the carbon leakage risk the sector faces. In this context, consideration should also be given to extending the full list of eligible sectors. This list was established using the same sectoral data on electricity and trade intensity that underpins the current ETS State Aid Guidelines, but applies different thresholds. Aligning the ETS State Aid Guidelines more closely with this list would ensure that all sectors at clear risk of carbon leakage, including salt extraction, are consistently recognized. Including the salt sector in the list of eligible industries for indirect cost compensation would: Mitigate carbon leakage risk by creating a level playing field with non-EU competitors; Support decarbonization by providing financial stability to invest in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies; Strengthen resilience of EU chemical value chains by ensuring secure, competitively priced salt supply; Contribute to EU strategic autonomy by reducing reliance on imports. In conclusion, EUsalt urges the Commission to include salt production (NACE code B8.9.3 Extraction of salt) in the list of sectors eligible for indirect cost compensation in the revised ETS State Aid Guidelines. This measure is necessary to prevent carbon leakage, safeguard the competitiveness of EU producers, and reinforce the resilience of Europes chemical industry.
Read full responseResponse to Detailed production methods for organic salts
3 Jan 2023
EUsalt is the European association representing the European salt industry including sea salt, vacuum salt and rock salt. EUsalt wishes to express its strong opposition to the proposed draft delegated regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2018/848 regarding detailed production rules for organic sea salt and other organic salts for food and feed, hereafter draft delegated regulation. EUsalt also requests that salt is removed from Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, hereafter Organic Regulation. The Organic Regulation stipulates that "sea salt and other types (not type sic!) of salt used in food or feed" would be included in the scope of this regulation. However, the text submitted for a consultation does not meet this objective considering the new proposed rules prohibit the transformation of a large majority of all types of production. Salt is a mineral, essentially inert, which has no place in organic farming since the latter is centred on the science of living organisms. The inclusion of salt in the Organic Regulation is thus a contradiction. It does not respond to a request from salt professionals or organic farming bodies, nor to that of consumers who already have adequate quality and origin labels to choose the salt, they wish to consume (for example choosing a product with Protected Geographical Indication PGI). The draft contradicts the objectives of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy and the EUs goal of at least 25 % organic production by 2030 as it de facto prohibitively excludes the large majority of the salt industry from organic production and limits the potential of organic salt to a small amount of production capacity. The aim of the F2F Strategy is to transform the food sector. The new proposed rules prohibit the transformation of a large majority of all types of production even with the best intention and highest investments. EUsalt estimates that more than 90% of Europes salt production would be excluded from being labelled as organic. In case these rules apply, they would risk extending the distance for the supply of organic salt in certain parts of Europe, which would be contrary to the objective of organic production to promote short distribution circuits and local production, such deliveries would also produce additional emissions contrary to organic production and F2F Strategy. For four years, difficult discussions between experts and the Member States have not allowed a consensus to be reached on the definition of production rules for organic salts. This deadlock is explained by the fact that salt is produced in several ways - from the sea, from underground deposits by mining methods or from underground deposits by dissolution and recrystallisation - which are due to geological occurrences unevenly distributed throughout Europe and each of which is of interest in terms of quality, both for human and animal consumption. The current draft delegated regulation introduces discrimination between certain (and excludes the large majority of) production methods, and even between certain Member States, which have no salt or all salt production methods in place. Finally, EUsalt reviewed the feedback submitted to the consultation and noted that a wide array of stakeholders from salt manufacturers, businesses involved in organic production, citizens and other concerned parties expressed concerns or opposition to the draft delegated act. Hence EUsalt believes that adoption of the current draft would not serve the intended purpose and would undermine the overall coherence of the current legislative framework. For the above stated reasons and to avoid putting different production methods, which make up the richness of European salt production and salt heritage, against each other, EUsalt requests that salt is removed from the relevant legislation.
Read full responseResponse to EU Standard for Green Bond
24 Sept 2021
Please see file attached for EUsalt position paper on the topic.
Read full responseResponse to Setting of nutrient profiles
2 Feb 2021
EUsalt is a European industry association, which has been acting on behalf of the interests of salt producers located across Europe and beyond. Our Association acts as an informative platform and facilitator for exchange, providing information to salt producers, as well as interested parties outside the salt industry. We aim to be the authoritative voice of the salt industry in Europe in advocacy and to educate and communicate the values and benefits of salt as an essential building block for the chemical industry, the energy sector and as a vital mineral for health, safety and nutrition.
EUsalt feedback to EC's roadmap on "Facilitating healthier food choices – establishing nutrient profiles" found in document attached.
Read full responseResponse to Carbon Leakage List 2021 - 2030
12 Nov 2017
Introduction
EUsalt, The European salt producers’ association, is supportive of the efforts of European policymakers to reduce emissions and preserve our environment and aims to actively participate in the decision-making process and in the implementation of measures to reduce the environmental impact of European industry. EuSalt members understand their responsibility towards the environment and as a result, have already taken and will continue to take significant steps to improve their environmental performance. The EU ETS aims to foster investments in low-carbon technologies to reach our 43% emission reduction target by 2030. Far from being a derogation, the carbon leakage status is meant to allow vulnerable industries to contribute to EU climate and circular economy objectives by preserving their investment capacity. The salt industry is taking part in the transition, investing in energy efficiency and clean energy sources (e.g. biomass). Hence the listing of the salt industry as a sector exposed to significant risk of Carbon Leakage has been essential not only to facilitate the innovation shift in the industry into emissions reduction efforts but also to maintain the competitive status of the European Chlor-Alkali industry for which salt is the initial source material.
EuSalt is a non-profit organization and represents the common interests of salt producers located across Europe, but also has members from different regions worldwide. The production of crystallized salt in Europe is estimated to be 39 million Tons which makes Europe the second biggest producer of crystallized salt in the world. EUsalt members represent 77% of the total European salt production, making it the sole voice of salt producers in Europe. The clear majority (60%) of the salt produced in Europe is dedicated as primary source material in the production of many chemical industrial applications of which the production of Chlorine and Soda Ash are the largest applications. We value the promotion of the responsible use of salt and strive to be a responsible stakeholder in the ongoing debates.
EUsalt, the European Salt Producers Association welcomes the European Commission’s publication of the Inception Impact Assessment for the Carbon Leakage List 2021-2030. In contributing to the Inception Impact Assessment, EUsalt wishes to express its position in maintaining the Carbon Leakage status of the salt industry also in the 4th phase of the assessment and drafting of the carbon leakage list.
The impact of all carbon costs on production and competitiveness should be assessed in identifying a sector at risk of Carbon Leakage. The cumulative effect of seemingly small changes (e.g. increased costs) will affect the system and cascading costs further into the value chain. This will weaken competitiveness within the EU and at the global level and threaten the EU industrial basis.
The European strategy should provide a balance between long-term strategy and the maintaining of an equal, competitive level playing field assuring that different technologies applied in the salt industry should stay equally competitive to fully embed future developments in renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency improvements.
Therefor EUsalt expresses its willingness to be involved as a key stakeholder in the full process of the impact assessment.
Read full responseResponse to Prodcom list
12 Jun 2017
The European Salt Producers' Association (EUsalt) would hereby like to submit a request for PRODCOM identification of salt. Owing to different legislation and policies, there is a crucial need to be able to identify sub-sectors. Especially, the NACE level does not bring out the diversity of the salt sector, which has repeatedly been a cause of heavy challenges, for instance with regard to the Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and the need to evaluate carbon intensity.
Thus, we are submitting the following PRODCOM proposal for salt (NACE 08.93):
PRODCOM
08.93.10.10 High purity vacuum salt
08.93.10.20 Other salt (including denatured salt but excluding salt suitable for human consumption), whether or not in aqueous solution or containing added anti-caking or free-flowing agents
The reason is that notwithstanding the particular production process, 'high purity vacuum salt' is associated with a specific use (namely in chemical and industrial processes), whereby purity is a key characteristic and cannot be replaced by lower grades. It would allow for a better identification of the sector in EU statistical data for both policy and trade requirements. With particular concern for climate policy and the EU ETS, having a PRODCOM code for salt destined to chemical applications is necessary for a targeted approach to emissions reduction efforts and carbon leakage risk assessment.
Read full responseMeeting with Bernardus Smulders (Cabinet of First Vice-President Frans Timmermans) and DIGITALEUROPE and
14 Jan 2016 · AECA Round-Table on “Dealing with Regulatory Burden