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On 08/10/2021, Member States approved the European Commission's proposal to ban the use of titanium dioxide (E171) as a food additive from 2022. Titanium dioxide is used as a colorant in several products such as chewing gum, pastries, food supplements and soups. The Commission proposal is based on the scientific opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which concluded that E171 can no longer be considered safe when used as a food additive, especially given that genotoxicity concerns cannot be ruled out. If the Council or the European Parliament does not object by the end of the year, the text will enter into force at the beginning of 2022. This will start a six-month phase-out period, after which a total ban will enter into force.
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During the plenary vote on 06/10/2021, the European Parliament voted on the objection to the re-authorization of two active substances - chlorotoluron used to control weeds and difenoconazole used to control mushrooms. The European Parliament approved the objection, i.e., did not support the re-authorization of these two active substances, by a vote of 407 in favour, 256 against. According to MEPs, the Commission's decision to extend the approval periods of chlorotoluron and difenoconazole does not comply with the safety criteria set out in Regulation 1107/2009 and is not based on evidence that these substances can be used safely or that they are demonstrably necessary for food production in the EU.
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On 28/09/2021, the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) supported the introduction of legally binding targets for reducing methane emissions in the EU and called for a global methane agreement during the forthcoming COP26 climate summit. Although methane emissions were reduced by 22% in the EU-28 between 1990 and 2018, COMENVI continues to account for the largest share of anthropogenic methane sources in the EU, offering the second highest overall methane reduction potential of all sectors. The numbers of livestock, especially ruminants, are the main contributors to emissions. The members of the Committee therefore call on the Member States and the Commission to put in place effective and sustainable measures to address these emissions, while ensuring that food continues to be produced in the most environmentally sustainable locations and that production is not relocated beyond the EU. Mandatory emission monitoring should be introduced for the agricultural, waste and energy sectors. The opinion was adopted by 61 votes in favour, 10 against and 7 abstentions. The plenary of the European Parliament should vote on the opinion in the week after 18/10/2021.
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The European Citizens' Initiative entitled "Save bees and farmers!" to support the end of synthetic pesticides in the EU has received the necessary support from more than one million European citizens in the past week. The European Commission will therefore have to respond to the initiative, following a public hearing to be held in the European Parliament in the coming months. The citizens' initiative calls for the use of synthetic pesticides to be reduced by 80% by 2030, and their use to be banned altogether by 2035. The initiative is in line with the efforts of the European Commission, which has proposed to reduce the volume and risks associated with the use of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030 as part of the European Green Deal and related strategies. The last successful European initiative to gain the necessary support from European citizens was the "End of the Cage Age" initiative. The Commission has already responded to this successful initiative and committed itself to making every effort to meet the requirements of the initiative, i.e., to ban cage livestock after 2027. The European Food Safety Authority is now working to assess feasibility.
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The Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, confirmed at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 28/09/2021 that the European Commission has not yet decided whether Nutri-Score could be the future system of harmonized mandatory nutrition labelling for food in the EU. The decision on harmonized and mandatory nutrition labelling for foods will be taken based on an impact assessment and scientific advice from the European Food Safety Authority in consultation with stakeholders and should include an evaluation of all available nutrition labelling schemes. The Commission should present impact assessments and legislative proposals during 2022.
More information is available here.