The Council of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change has taken a significant step in environmental protection by approving the Odor Emission Standard for the Fishing Sector. This measure aims to improve the quality of life for people living near fish processing plants nationwide.

The regulation specifically targets 23 fishmeal and fish oil plants, predominantly located in the Biobío region, and nine fish feed plants, mostly in the Los Lagos region. These facilities have been identified as significant sources of odour emissions affecting nearby communities, making this regulation a priority on the country's environmental agenda.

   On 24 April this year, the European Parliament approved the provisional agreement on the new Air Quality (AQ) Directive. This is one of the last steps before a new Air Quality Directive is published and implemented in the 32 countries under the European Environmental Agency (EEA) umbrella. Is there anything related to odour levels in the new text of the AQ Directive?

   Over the last few years, we have seen how Air Quality (AQ) panels and apps are growing around our cities. They usually show a message with AQ levels of "good," "fair," "moderate," "poor" and "very poor". These levels are much related to the existing Directive on Air Quality. This Directive is about to be replaced by a new text  recently approved by the European Parliament. The question is: will this new AQ Directive incorporate any provisions regarding odour levels in ambient air?