Excessive requirements and novelty foods
21.1.2022
Question for written answer E-000265/2022
to the Commission
Rule 138
Tomáš Zdechovský (PPE)
A high level of protection of human health, consumers’ interests and the effective functioning of the internal market needs to be ensured in the pursuit of EU food policies.
The procedure for authorising the placing on the market within the Union of a novel food, based on Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2469, requires applicants to submit various data necessary for the assessment. However, in many instances there are excessive requirements that are not technically possible to be fulfilled by small and medium-sized companies seeking to gain authorisation for their products. Such technical and scientific data requirements are often costly to fulfil, since the prices for analyses can amount to tens of thousands of euros. This constitutes a significant barrier for such companies in placing their products on the market. In this regard:
- 1.To what extent is the Commission aware of issuing excessive requirements and how does it address this issue?
- 2.What measures can small and medium-sized companies use to mitigate the costs incurred by the Commission’s excessive requirements?
- 3.Why does the Commission issue excessive requirements when assessing CBD-related products vis-à-vis other applications?