Brussels, 19/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 18 December, the Commission proposed facilitating access to the EU market for novel foods produced by using new technologies, giving its assurance, however, that a high level of consumer protection would be guaranteed. The draft regulation that it presented to this end aims to modify the novel food regulation (Regulation No258/97 on novel foods and food ingredients) to have a centralised, simplified and clarified authorisation procedure for such foods, and thus allow them to be placed on the market more swiftly, in an environment that would be good for trade. The proposal was made as part of a legislative package including two draft directives on animal cloning for food purposes (see related article in this bulletin).
The changes brought to the regulations on novel foods will set in place a more effective system, said Tonio Borg, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety. As a result, he went on, EU consumers will enjoy a broad choice of foodstuffs and the European food industry will be able to develop in an environment with potential. “These authorisations will be generic, therefore, giving access to sell and use new food to all food business operators, including SMEs”, he said.
In the event of innovation resulting from scientific breakthroughs, the “company that submits the application containing new data will be given data protection on that novel food for five years. However, another food business operator may make a new request on the same food based on their own application”, the commissioner said.
In addition to the centralised and faster authorisation procedure for facilitating innovation in the agri-food industry, the text contains a legal definition of nano-materials and provides for labelling to be mandatory, as well as specific provisions for foodstuffs not marketed in the EU, the safety of which is confirmed by the fact that the food is traditionally eaten outside the EU.
By “novel” food, one means foodstuffs such as magnolia bark extract, phytosterols, guar gum, noni juice, and the dehydrated pulp of the baobab fruit, consumption of which was negligible in the EU until May 1997, i.e. before the entry into force of the novel food regulation, and, especially, foodstuffs produced using new technologies and techniques including the use of nanomaterials.
The proposal for a regulation is to be put to the Parliament and Council. The new rules will take effect in 2016 at the earliest. The draft regulation has been on the table since January 2008 but, in March 2011, Parliament and Council negotiators were unable to agree on the arrangements for a ban on foodstuffs from cloned animals and their offspring - a requirement that is particularly dear to the European Parliament, and on arrangements for compulsory labelling of all foodstuffs from cloned animals, which had prevented its adoption (see EUROPE 10347). (AN/transl.jl)