Changes made to food and feed safety simplification package

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) is “disappointed” by the negotiating stance set by the EU Council under the Irish presidency last week regarding the food and feed safety simplification package, otherwise known as the “Omnibus X” simplification package.

Director for food safety, sustainability and innovation at DG SANTE Klaus Berend was speaking at the 'Protect our Health, Water and Biodiversity from Pesticides' conference in Dublin, hosted by the Environmental Forum, Pesticide Action Network Europe, Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) and the Environmental Pillar.

Berend explained that most of the proposed measures were aimed at reducing the “overload” that is currently being experienced by plant protection product authorisation bodies.

However, many of the measures proposed to speed up the introduction of bio-control solutions have been removed or reduced.

Other changes to the proposed package include only allowing unlimited authorisation for low-risk Plant protection products (PPPs) rather than all PPPs.

Approval periods

Berend did welcome an extension to the length of authorisation periods for other PPPs. The approval periods will be increased from 10 years to 15 years for PPPs on their first approval, while the period will be extended from 15 years to 25 years for subsequent renewals.

This is to help the “structural delays” in the authorisation of active substances. However, there will be stronger safeguards through a periodic review of scientific literature and EU monitoring data.

The proposal to reduce the maximum residue levels of pesticides that are harmful to human health or the environment on imported food or feed from outside the European Union is maintained and has been expanded to include pesticides where the “specific conditions of use lead to unacceptable risks to honeybees or groundwater”.

The Irish presidency will now begin negotiations with the European Parliament once the parliament has adopted its position on this proposal, with hopes for a provisional agreement on this package by the end of 2026.