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SubscribeThe European Commission has recently opened a public consultation as part of its Food and Feed Safety Simplification Omnibus Initiative, with a significant focus on the regulatory framework for plant protection products (PPPs) and biocidal products. This initiative aims to strengthen EU legislation, reducing administrative burdens while maintaining high standards for food safety, human and animal health, and environmental protection.
According to the public consultation published:
- With regard to PPPs, the agricultural sector is facing challenges due to the slow approval process for new plant protection products, especially biopesticides as older products lose their authorizations; and another major concern is the lack of effective mutual recognition of product authorizations across Member States, leading to unequal access to PPPs.
- With regard to biocidal products, the process of evaluating current active substances is consistently delayed, which impacts not only the approval of these substances but also the authorisation of related products; and there are growing worries regarding the expiration of data protection for all existing active substances in 2025.
The European Commission’s proposal includes several targeted measures to address these challenges:
- For PPPs:
- Faster approval processes, with a particular emphasis on accelerating access to innovative biocontrol solutions.
- Stronger Mutual Recognition of product authorizations between Member States.
- Strengthened support for minor uses.
- Clarification of provisions related to basic substances, seed treatment and data protection to increase harmonisation of implementation across Member States.
- For biocidal products:
- The initiative proposes targeted adjustments to the Biocidal Products Regulation to address specific practical issues.
- The main goal is to reduce administrative burdens for both economic operators and national authorities.
- By streamlining procedures, resources can be focused on completing the review of existing active substances. This will help ensure that all biocidal products on the market are properly authorised under harmonised EU rules, improving safety across Member States.
- The Commission is considering changes to the expiry date of data protection for existing active substances to balance the interests of review programme participants and other stakeholders.
These changes are expected to reduce compliance costs and administrative workload for both industry and national authorities, while supporting innovation and competitiveness in the EU agricultural sector. Stakeholders—including farmers, industry representatives, and the public—are invited to contribute their views and suggestions through the ongoing public consultation, which will end next October 14, 2025.
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