EU notifies Omnibus regulation to WTO – comments to SPS until 30th March 2026
Following on from our previous circular of 8th January relating to the publication of the EU Omnibus regulation aiming to simplify and strengthen EU food and feed safety requirements (16th December), please note that the EU has notified this regulation to the WTO (G/SPS/N/EU/911) on 29th January (attached). The EU is notifying trading partners that comments are welcome until 30th March 2026 and that the regulation is expected to enter into force 6 months after publication date.
Full details of regulation at following links:
Omnibus I - European Commission
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2026/SPS/EEC/26_00559_00_e.pdf
This legislation covers:
• Food and feed obtained using genetically modified organisms, as covered by Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003
• Preparations of a kind used in animal feeding, as covered by Regulation (EC)No 1831/2003
• Live animals as covered by Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009
• Maximum residue levels for pesticides in food and feed, as covered by Regulation (EC) No 396/2005
The proposed regulation allows for more flexible transitional measures in cases where Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) are lowered, allows the setting of permanent MRLs based on monitoring data, aligns the terminology "limit of quantification (LOQ)", and introduces the possibility on a case-by-case basis to set MRLs at the LOQ for the most hazardous pesticides (substances with mutagenic, carcinogenic, or reprotoxic properties as well as endocrine disruptors that may cause adverse effects in humans and in non-target organisms, persistent organic pollutants (POP), persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) substances).
• Live animals and certain commodities (bovine collagen and gelatine), as covered by Regulation (EC) No 999/2001
• Biocidal Products, as covered by Regulation (EU) No 528/2012
• Plants, plant products and other objects referred to in Article 47(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 [only for the amendment of Article 50(3)]
• Plant protection products, as covered by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 modification of feed additives authorisations and 3/ allowing digital labelling of feed additives and premixtures for certain non-safety information.
Please refer to the legislation and WTO notification for full details.
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