16 EU regulation of novel foods
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny
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| Document details | Draft Regulation on novel foods
|
| Legal base | Article 114 TFEU; co-decision; QMV
|
| Department | Food Standards Agency
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| Document numbers | (35695), 18171/13, COM(13) 894
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Summary and Committee's conclusions
16.1 For the purposes of EU legislation, "novel
foods" are defined as those which have not been consumed
to a significant degree before 15 May 1997, and they are currently
subject to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 258/97. In 2008,
the Commission put forward a proposal to streamline the authorisation
procedure, but the subsequent negotiations broke down, notably
over the inclusion of provisions on cloned animals. However, the
controls over the cloning of farmed animals and the regulation
of food from such animals have recently been the subject of separate
proposals,[50] and the
Commission put forward in December 2013 this new proposal for
an amended Novel Foods Regulation which excludes any reference
to cloned animals.
16.2 Apart from that exclusion, the proposal is broadly
similar to the 2008 text, its main purpose being to introduce
a centralised authorisation system, and we noted that it had been
given a broad welcome by the Government. However, as consultations
were to be held in the various parts of the UK, we asked the Government
to keep us informed of their outcome and of discussions within
the Council, particularly if there were to be any suggestion of
the proposal leading to a degree of competence creep.
16.3 The Government has now told us that, subject
to some modest updating in the light of technological progress,
the scope of the measure will be largely the same as that in the
1997 Regulation, with no explicit reference to food from cloned
animals (which remains subject to the separate proposal in December
2013). It adds that other important elements —including
the introduction of a centralised authorisation process —
remain unchanged, and that, in as much as the new Regulation would
modernise, and is proportionate and risk-based, it meets the UK's
objectives.
16.4 We are grateful to the Minister for this
update, and we have noted that the scope of the measure will now
be largely the same as that of the 1997 Regulation. As this would
appear to meet any concern about competence creep, and, as the
proposal would in other respects introduce a number of useful
administrative simplifications, we are content to clear it.
Full details of the document:
Draft Regulation on novel foods (35695), 18171/13, COM(13) 894.
Background
16.5 For the purposes of EU legislation, "novel
foods" are defined as all foods or food ingredients which
have not been consumed in the Union to a significant degree before
15 May 1997, and they are currently subject to the provisions
of Regulation (EC) No. 258/97. In 2008, the Commission put forward
a proposal to replace and repeal that Regulation, and to streamline
the authorisation procedure, but the subsequent negotiations broke
down, notably over the inclusion of provisions on cloned animals.
However, the controls over the cloning of farmed animals and the
regulation of food from such animals has recently been the subject
of separate proposals, and the Commission put forward in December
2013 this new proposal for an amended Novel Foods Regulation which
excludes any reference to cloned animals.
16.6 As we noted in our Report of 29 January 2014,
the proposal is — apart from that exclusion — broadly
similar to the 2008 text, its main purpose being to introduce
a centralised authorisation system in place of the current time-consuming
procedure, which requires an initial assessment to be carried
out by a single Member State, which is then sent to all other
Member States for comment. The proposal would also introduce a
simplified safety assessment of traditional food from third countries;
clarify the application of the Regulation to relevant new food
technologies, such as nanotechnology; minimise potential overlaps
with parallel authorisation procedures established since 1997
for ingredients in certain categories of food such as food supplements
and medical foods; and introduce a degree of protection for applicants
who have invested in new data to demonstrate the suitability of
their product.
16.7 We also noted that, so long as the new authorisation
procedure maintained the current level of consumer protection
and was equally transparent, the Government had welcomed the proposal
as updating the existing Regulation, clarifying its scope, and
aligning it with other food legislation. It also said that the
proposal would be subject to separate consultations in England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and that an analysis of
responses received would be submitted in due course. However,
although discussions at official level were expected to begin
shortly within the Council, progress was likely to be linked to
the two parallel proposals on animal cloning and on food from
cloned animals; and this was in any case expected to be limited
before September 2014 because of the European Parliament elections
and the appointment of a new Commission.
16.8 In holding the document under scrutiny, we said
that, whilst it appeared to be more straightforward than the proposal
put forward in 2008, we would like the Government to keep us informed,
particularly as regards any suggestion that it could result in
a degree of competence creep.
Minister's letter of 18 November 2014
16.9 We have now received from the Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State for Public Health (Jane Ellison) a letter
of 18 November 2014 in which she reports that
the Italian Presidency recently transmitted
a consolidated text of the proposal with a view to a vote in the
Council on 1 December 2014.
16.10 She says that, whilst industry had raised concerns
that the proposal could lead to a significant extension in scope,
there now appeared to be broad agreement that this should largely
be the same as the 1997 legislation, subject to a modest updating
in the light of technological progress. In addition, the Council
proposed to re-introduce an exhaustive list of food categories
to which a food must belong to be considered as novel, making
explicit that food containing nanomaterials falls within scope.
Overall, however, there would not be a significant change in the
scope of the legislation.
16.11 The Minister goes on to recall that cloning
is the subject of two parallel Commission proposals, one of which
concerns the marketing of food from clones, and that, as these
are moving more slowly through the co-decision process, the Council
proposal is that the revised novel foods legislation should make
no explicit reference to clones, thus — for now —
retaining the status quo of the 1997 legislation.
16.12 Otherwise, the Minister says that important
aspects of the revised novel foods proposal remain, including
the centralisation of the risk assessment process, data protection
for five years for new scientific evidence provided in support
of an application for authorisation, and a simpler notification
procedure for traditional foods from non-EU countries. She adds
that the UK's objectives have been achieved in as much as the
proposed Regulation modernises, and is proportionate and risk-based;
and she asks if we would be willing to lift scrutiny.
Previous Committee Reports
Thirty-third Report HC 83-xxx (2013-14), chapter
4 (29 January 2014).
50 (35688), 18152/13 and (35689), 18153/13: Thirty-first
Report HC 83-xxviii (2013-14), chapter 3 (22 January 2014); Thirty-fifth
Report HC 83-xxxii (2013-14), chapter 1 (5 February 2014); Fortieth
Report HC 83-xxxvi (2013-14), chapter 2 (12 March 2014); and First
Report HC 219-i (2014-15), chapter 3 (4 April 2014). Back
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