IN Brief:
- The Council has agreed its mandate on the remaining elements of the EU’s Omnibus X food and feed package.
- Proposed changes cover pesticide residues, plant protection products, biocides, feed additives, digital labelling, and fermentation products.
- Negotiations with the European Parliament can begin once Parliament adopts its own position.
The Council of the European Union has agreed its negotiating position on the remaining elements of the Omnibus X food and feed safety package, setting out proposed changes to pesticide residue limits, plant protection products, biocides, feed additives, and fermentation products before negotiations with the European Parliament. The mandate was adopted on 30 September as part of the EU’s wider simplification programme, which is intended to reduce administrative burdens while retaining existing health, animal welfare, and environmental protections.
Maximum residue levels for imported food and feed are among the more consequential provisions, with the Council retaining the Commission proposal to lower existing limits to technical zero for particularly hazardous active substances following an impact assessment. The Council has widened the proposed scope to include substances whose conditions of use create unacceptable risks to honeybees or groundwater, extending the measure beyond the hazard categories originally identified by the Commission.
Products that complied with previous residue limits could continue to be placed on the market for a defined transition period where the final legislation provides for one, a mechanism intended to avoid destroying stock solely because a lower limit takes effect after production or import. Importers and food businesses would still have to manage the change in specifications, laboratory testing, supplier declarations, and purchasing controls before the transition expired, so the provision changes the timing of compliance rather than removing it.
Plant protection product authorisations would move towards longer approval periods alongside additional monitoring, with low risk active substances and products containing them receiving unlimited approvals and other substances moving to 15-year first approvals and 25-year subsequent approvals, subject to specified exceptions. Biocontrol substances would receive priority during assessment, while test and study reports would be uploaded to a new EU database and the European Food Safety Authority would periodically review scientific literature and monitoring data.
Biocidal active substances would remain time limited, although first approvals would generally extend to 15 years and renewals to 25 years as the EU attempts to address structural delays in the existing review programme. Feed additives would be treated differently again, since the Commission proposal removes systematic renewal for most authorised additives, simplifies modifications to existing authorisations, and permits digital labelling for certain information, all of which the Council has retained in its mandate.
Fermentation products made using genetically modified microorganisms are also covered, with the Council supporting clarification that such products are not automatically classified as food or feed “produced from GMOs”. Commission guidance on good manufacturing practice would accompany that change, focusing on minimising residual genetically modified microorganism material in the relevant food or feed products and leaving producers with a manufacturing control requirement even where the classification route becomes clearer.
Martin Heydon, Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said Europe’s farmers and agrifood businesses need “greater predictability and fewer unnecessary burdens so they can invest, innovate and compete in the global market”. His intervention reflects the political balance running through the package, which seeks longer approval cycles and less repeated administration while retaining tighter treatment for substances that present higher health or environmental risks.
Residue limits can change ingredient specifications, hygiene programmes may depend on biocidal products, feed businesses rely on additive authorisations, and fermentation producers need clarity around how microbial processes are classified. Changes agreed in Brussels can therefore reach purchasing, quality assurance, laboratory testing, formulation, and supplier approval systems even where the legal text initially appears remote from day-to-day production.
UK businesses exporting into the single market remain exposed to the same practical consequences where EU rules form part of the market access conditions for their products. A revised residue limit or authorisation route can require new evidence from an overseas supplier even when the UK’s domestic rules remain unchanged, which is why regulatory divergence often appears first as an additional specification or documentation requirement rather than as an immediate production change.
Omnibus X is still moving through the legislative process, and the 30 September text is the Council’s negotiating mandate rather than a final set of obligations. The European Parliament must adopt its position before interinstitutional negotiations can begin, after which the final text may differ from both the Commission proposal and the Council mandate.
Earlier elements of the package have already moved separately, including a May regulation extending certain data protection periods for biocides and a Council position on another group of food and feed measures later that month. The presidency wants a provisional agreement on the overall Omnibus X package by the end of 2026, leaving businesses with a clearer view of the direction of reform but no basis yet for treating the proposed approval periods, residue changes, or fermentation provisions as settled law.
