On Tuesday 16 December, the European Commission adopted a proposal to simplify the rules in the field of food safety.
The Commission no longer plans to grant indefinite authorisations for certain pesticides (see EUROPE 13757/3).
The Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, told the press that the Commission was proposing a more agile and responsive pesticide approval system, based on renewals and targeted reassessments when there are scientific reasons to do so.
The proposed simplifications could save more than €1 billion in compliance costs, including more than €428 million per year for EU businesses and €661 million per year for national administrations.
With regard to pesticides, the proposal:
- makes the approval system more agile and reactive by removing the requirement for systematic renewal, based solely on time limits, for many active substances (excluding the most hazardous), with targeted renewals and reassessments being carried out when there are scientific reasons to do so;
- encourages uptake and development of more sustainable pesticides by establishing a simplified procedure for identifying low-risk active substances;
- enables farmers to have a wider choice of plant protection products by simplifying procedures for basic substances (e.g. vinegar, mustard seed powder or baking powder) used to protect crops and by accelerating the authorisation of products containing substances targeting particularly damaging pests;
- provides for technical and scientific support from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to the Member State leading a risk assessment in order to significantly reduce delays and provide clearer guidance more quickly on necessary risk management options;
- facilitates the authorisation of low-risk pesticides in multiple Member States to ensure more equal availability of these products for farmers;
- sets out how the Commission will identify certain types of drones for pesticide spraying with potential to reduce the exposure of humans and the environment compared to ground-based spraying methods.
Biopesticides. A key aim of the package is to reduce barriers biopesticides reaching the market. Although these substances are generally less toxic than synthetic chemical pesticides, the assessment periods for authorisation applications remain long, due to a lack of resources and divergent national practices.
The proposal establishes an EU-wide definition of biocontrol active substances and creates a process to accelerate their assessment and authorisation, including:
- a requirement on Member States to prioritise applications for these products and the possibility of granting provisional authorisations while assessment procedures are ongoing;
- a strengthening on mutual recognition provisions and an option of entrusting the EFSA, rather than a Member State, with the initial safety assessment of an active substance. The Authority will receive additional resources for this purpose.
Biocidal products. The European Union has rules to ensure the safety of biocidal products used to control harmful organisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, rodents and insects. However, the process of reviewing the active substances they contain has so far been slow.
The ‘omnibus’ legislative simplification project proposes to replace the systematic reassessment of all active substances already approved by a more efficient system in order to free up resources. This measure should help to finalise the remaining initial assessments of existing active substances and reduce costs for companies without compromising the safety of human health or the environment. According to the Commission’s figures, the proposed amendment would save businesses around €71.5 million a year.
An in-depth assessment of the legislation applicable to biocidal products is also underway, with a view to examining how it could be substantially improved in the future.
Imports. The proposal would allow partial customs clearance of consignments of plants and plant products at borders, so that the compliant part can be placed on the market while controls continue on the rest of the consignment. This measure would ease the burden on border authorities, increase predictability for importers and operators and limit food waste caused by the perishing of goods while awaiting checks.
According to the Commission’s estimates, this measure would reduce avoidable losses of fruit, vegetables and cut flowers by around €150 million a year.
Link to the proposals: https://aeur.eu/f/k15 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)