Food and feed safety simplification omnibus

On December 16th, the Commission published three proposals as part of the cross-cutting legislative simplification package announced in the European Commission’s Vision for Agriculture and Food. This “food/feed omnibus” aims to increase the competitiveness and resilience of EU farmers and the food and feed industry, as well as to reduce the administrative burden on Member States authorities. All the while, it aims to maintain high standards for food and feed safety, for human and animal health, and for environmental protection. The proposal responds to repeated requests from stakeholders and EU countries for faster, clearer procedures for plant protection products, drones, biocides, feed additives, hygiene rules and official controls.

The first initiative relates to biocidal substances and aims to extend data protection for certain biocidal substances whose assessment has been delayed, ensuring fair treatment for companies that generated required data while the review process is still ongoing.

The second initiative amends four directives with the aim of facilitating and regulating the use of drones for the application of pesticides, reducing the duplication of responsibilities regarding record-keeping on animal medicinal treatments, and repeals two directives on plastic contact with food which the Commission considers superfluous after further legislation was adopted on this topic.

The third initiative aims at simplifying and streamlining requirements and procedures for products used in the production of food and feed identified as particularly burdensome by industry and authorities:

• accelerating access of new and innovative biocontrol substances to the market;

• improving legal clarity and consistency on pesticide residue levels;

• strengthening controls on imports with residues of pesticides not approved in the EU;

• addressing long-standing delays in the EU review of biocidal substances;

• regulating the use of genetically modified micro-organisms in fermentation;

• streamlining authorisations and labelling rules for feed additives;

• replacing multiple notification procedures regarding national food hygiene levels with a single EU system;

• reducing delays caused by border control by allowing consignments of plant and plant products to be split;

• simplifying reporting mechanisms on animal welfare;

• easing regulations on Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE);