The Food and Feed Safety Omnibus X addresses ten different regulations.
Among these is the plant protection products (PPPs) legislation EC Regulation No 1107/2009, which covers the placing on the market of all PPPs, both conventional and biocontrol. Biocontrol PPPs include microbials, semiochemicals, and natural substances such as plant extracts, minerals and peptides. While they are covered by Regulation EC 1107/2009, it is noteworthy that, to date, biocontrol solutions have no legally harmonised definition in the EU, which is the reason why Europe is lagging behind other agriculture markets in this important matter for food security of the continent.
The February 2025 European Commission (EC) Vision for Agriculture and Food included a goal to accelerate the authorisation of biocontrol as well as to promote innovation and competitiveness in European agriculture. This Omnibus package aims to address these points which are crucial for Europe to remain competitive in the agriculture market. For biocontrol, an EU wide innovative legal definition and a variety of procedural measures are proposed to accelerate the authorisation process, in particular:
This package is meant to be a simplification measure, and there is a risk the text falls very far from this objective, further complicating an already burdensome process.
