Simplification and strengthening of food and feed safety requirements
PURPOSE: to simplify and strengthen EU food and feed safety requirements.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: the proposal is part of the cross-cutting legislative simplification package announced in the European Commission’s Vision for Agriculture and Food.
The proposal responds to repeated requests from stakeholders and EU Member States for faster and clearer regulatory procedures.
This initiative aims at simplifying and streamlining certain requirements and procedures for products used in the production of food and feed identified as particularly burdensome by industry and authorities. These provisions would benefit from regulatory streamlining and modernisation, which would make the respective legislation more efficient and cost-effective for industry and Member States authorities, while at the same time ensuring a high level of protection of human and animal health and the environment.
CONTENT: the proposed regulation aims to simplify and strengthen EU legislation on food and feed safety by amending a series of existing regulations.
The proposed changes aim, inter alia, to:
- accelerate market access procedures for biopesticides;
- encourage the adoption and development of more sustainable pesticides by establishing a simpler procedure for identifying low-risk active substances;
- make pesticide and biocide renewal procedures more targeted, more efficient and faster;
- contribute to the adjustment of import production standards with regard to pesticide residues;
- relax the obligation to renew authorisations for additives for animal feed and to digitalise the labelling of additives for animal feed;
- simplify the rules for keeping records for breeders, in order to eliminate duplicates;
- facilitate market access for fermentation products;
- simplify the accreditation rules for official laboratories;
- allow split clearance for confinements of plants and plant products at the border, in order to release the parts for which official controls have been finalised while other parts still need further controls. This measure will ensure that official controls are carried out at border control posts without causing unnecessary delay or financial loss for the operators or food waste;
- adapt the requirements for monitoring bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and mitigating risks to the evolution of scientific knowledge.
From 2027, cost savings for businesses are estimated at EUR 335.6 million per year, with a further increase of EUR 93 million per year from 2029 onwards, with the introduction of simplifications for plant protection products. Over the course of this term, the ten measures are expected to generate at least EUR 1 billion in 2027-2029, with an additional EUR 2.1 billion in the following term.
Public authorities would also benefit substantially: administrative costs are expected to decrease by EUR 661 million per year, representing a total estimated reduction of EUR 4.6 billion in administrative costs between 2027 and 2034.