The White House on Friday announced a new Nutrition Facts label. At the Partnership for a Healthier America Summit, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the modernized Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods will reflect the latest science, the most relevant nutrition information, and sport a refreshed design. After reviewing comments received on the proposed rules, consumer studies and updated nutrition science, the Food and Drug Administration made several changes to the label. The final label requires Added Sugars to be declared to help consumers know how much sugar is added to the product during the processing of foods. The label features a revamped format that highlights key information, such as calories and servings per container. It also replaces out-of-date serving sizes to better align with the amount consumers actually eat. Food manufacturers were given two-year to comply with the new label. Further, manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales will have an additional year to comply.

While announcing its Renewable Fuel Standard proposal this week, the Environmental Protection Agency also announced plans to conduct a public hearing. The EPA said it would hold a public hearing in Kansas City, Missouri. Following its proposal last year, EPA held a public hearing in Kansas City, Kansas. This year’s hearing is planned for Thursday, June 9th. The public comment period will remain open until July 11th. EPA this week proposed to increase the renewable fuel volume requirements across all types of biofuels. However, ethanol groups say the increases are not enough. The proposal for ethanol is 200 million gallons shy of the 15 billion gallons mandated by Congress. Groups opposing the EPA proposal include the National Chicken Council, which charges the EPA is creating an artificial demand for corn-based ethanol beyond what the fuel market can bear. The group says the proposal will “have unintended consequences for other corn users,” like livestock producers.

European Union countries have chosen to delay a vote that would allow the continued sale and use of glyphosate herbicides, leaving little time before the EU license for glyphosate expires. A spokesperson for the European Commission said since a majority could not be reached, no vote was held this week as previously planned, according to the Wall Street Journal. The commission had proposed to reauthorize glyphosate for nine years once its current sales license runs out next month. After failing to receive a majority approval in March, the commission had reduced the proposed authorization from to nine years to 15 years. Glyphosate is one of the most popular weed killers in the EU. Complicating the vote is the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer findings last year that say glyphosate probably has the potential to cause cancer in humans. If the commission fails to vote before June 30th, glyphosate sales and use will no longer be authorized in the EU.

Monsanto publicly announced late Wednesday that the company was reviewing a proposal by Bayer AG to acquire Monsanto. Earlier in the week, BASF and Bayer were reportedly interested in acquiring the St. Louis, Missouri-based company. Monsanto confirmed the company has received what officials call an “unsolicited, non-binding proposal” from Bayer, subject to “due diligence, regulatory approvals and other conditions.” Further, the company says the Board of Directors of Monsanto is reviewing the proposal, in consultation with its financial and legal advisors. The proposal by Bayer comes a year after Monsanto was making offers to purchase Swiss-based Syngenta worth up to $46 billion. However, state-owned ChemChina and Syngenta agreed to an all-cash deal worth $43 billion.

A report by the U.S. International Trade Commission earlier this week says agriculture stands to reap the biggest benefits from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If the TPP was implemented, the report finds that agricultural exports would rise by about $7.2 billion per year by 2032. Imports of farm products would also increase, but only by $2.7 billion annually. Groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation and the American Soybean Association say the report is further proof that Congress should act now to approve the TPP. However, Congressional leaders remain pessimistic that the trade pact will get a vote this year, according to Agri-Pulse. In renewing his call for Congress to approve the deal, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack says the Trade Commission report “echoes what every major reputable study on TPP has now found,” that being strong benefits for the U.S. agriculture sector.