The European Commission is proposing a revision of ten key Regulations to update the European framework of food and feed safety requirements.The proposed regulation sent by the Commission to Member States is part of a comprehensive package of legislative simplification measures to reduce regulatory implementation costs for industry and national authorities. In Italy, the Senate Agriculture Committee is examining the issue, where a series of hearings has been scheduled.
Ten regulations to change
The aim of the reform package is to simplify and clarify existing legislation, to reduce or eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens, currently variously distributed across ten regulations:(EC) No. 999/2001 Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)
The amendments aim to ensure that disease control measures can be updated rapidly and proportionately and eliminate some unnecessary regulatory and operational burdens on authorities and operators, in accordance with scientific evidence and international standards, while continuing to ensure a high level of protection of public and animal health.
(EC) No. 1829/2003 - Genetically modified food and feed (GMM)
The legal status of such products is clarified by making it clear that the definition of food and feed "produced from genetically modified organisms ( GMOs )" does not include food and feed produced using GMOs as producer strains if there is no presence of GMOs in such products.Furthermore, the reference to GMOs in the definition of "product from GMOs" should only refer to microorganisms in the biological sense and exclude cultured animal and plant cells.
(EC) No. 1831/2003 - Additives for use in animal nutrition
There are three main areas that need to be simplified and clarified: the renewal of authorisations, the modification of existing authorisations and labelling requirements.The aim of the measures is to make the additive authorisation system more efficient and to promote the development and availability of new, innovative feed additives in the Union.
(EC) n. 852/2004 and (EC) n. 853/2004 - Hygiene
For both regulations, the proposal aims to simplify the notification procedure for national measures by requiring the use of a single notification procedure, as provided for by Directive (EU) 2015/1535.(EC) No. 396/2005 Maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides
The amendment provides that, for substances that are not approved in the Union and that have certain particularly hazardous properties, MRLs set on the basis of good agricultural practices in third countries or maximum limits established by the Codex Alimentarius may be set at the limit of quantification (technical zero), if deemed appropriate in light of the results of an impact assessment.The European Commission considers it appropriate to abolish the "import tolerance" and replace it with a reference to good agricultural practices in a third country. A more proportionate approach is proposed to allow the continued marketing of products compliant with the MRLs applicable at the time of production even after the introduction of new, lower MRLs, depending on the circumstances of each specific case.
(EC) No. 1099/2009 - Protection of animals at the time of killing
The Commission proposes to abolish the requirement to submit specific annual reports on depopulation operations, as this has proven to be of limited value compared to the administrative burden it entails.(EC) No. 1107/2009 - Active substances and plant protection products
The innovations aim to strengthen the mutual recognition procedure for plant protection products containing only active substances for biological control or low-risk products , providing for tacit consent in the event that the Member State concerned does not take a decision on the mutual recognition procedure within a period of one hundred and twenty days. The duration of approvals for active substances is made unlimited, with exceptions.(EU) No. 528/2012 - Biocides
The duration of approvals for active substances is made unlimited , except for those that raise concerns for human or animal health or the environment. However, in order to maintain a high level of protection for human and animal health and the environment, it will still be possible to set time limits for approvals.(EU) 2017/625 Official controls
The proposed amendments allow border control posts to split consignments of plants and plant products before official controls on the entire consignment are completed, thus releasing the parts for which official controls have already been completed.Furthermore, in order to reduce the accreditation and human resources costs that Union reference laboratories and national reference laboratories incur, the proposal allows for the designation of such laboratories even if they are not accredited for all laboratory methods , provided that certain conditions are met.
Finally, to avoid duplication of accreditation in relation to certain biological food safety hazards, the Commission proposes to allow laboratories to be accredited under other laboratory standards similar to EN ISO/IEC 17025.
These interventions directly impact the organization of official veterinary controls, the management of imports, and the operation of public laboratories. (Source: https://www.anmvioggi.it/ )