Food safety: additive in feedingstuffs and in drinking water for animal nutrition

The committee adopted the report by Hedwig KEPPELHOFF-WIECHERT (EPP-ED, D) broadly approving the proposal under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure, subject to a number of amendments: - it should be specified that the directive applies not only to feed additives but also to premixtures; - the proposed deadline for withdrawing the remaining authorised antibiotic growth promoters in animal feed should be brought forward by one year to 1 January 2005 from the date of 1 January 2006 proposed by the Commission; - rather than allowing an open-ended derogation for coccidiostats and histomonostats (two specific substances used to treat poultry diseases), the committee proposed that they be used until the end of 2008 and set a final deadline of 1 January 2009 for banning them, provided no legislation had been passed to continue their use on the basis of a report to be submitted by 1 January 2008; - with regard to labelling, the person or business responsible for the information to be displayed on packaging or containers, relating to each additive contained in the material, should be resident or have their registered place of business in the EU; moreover, labelling should include details of the batch reference number and the date of manufacture, to ensure product traceability; - specific guidelines should be drawn up in cooperation with the EFSA for the authorisation of each category of additive; - since pets are not normally for human consumption, all rules on feed additives designed to protect human health should be applicable to pet food only to a restricted extent or not at all; - the use of the banned additives (except antibiotics) should be allowed in scientific experiments provided there is adequate official supervision.�