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Food Safety

Evaluation of the feed additives Regulation

About the evaluation

The European Commission is carrying out an evaluation of the Feed Additives Regulation. The aim is to assess if the legislation has performed as expected, whether it still meets the needs of citizens, businesses and public authorities and also to identify possible burdens it may have created as well as any inconsistencies or gaps in the legislative framework.

The evaluation is being carried out according to the Commission Better Regulation rules and consists of the steps described below:

Evaluation Roadmap

A Roadmap outlining the purpose, content and scope of the evaluation was published on 28 August 2017. It invited citizens and stakeholders to provide input at an early stage of the evaluation process. The roadmap and feedback received can be consulted here.

Consultation Strategy

The Commission defined a consultation strategy with the aim of providing a broad range of high-quality information to support the evaluation. The strategy

  1. sets out the objectives and scope of the different consultations
  2. maps key stakeholders, and
  3. establishes consultation methods and tools.

External Study

The European Commission requested an external study to support the evaluation work. The technical specifications can be consulted here. The study is ongoing and the final report presenting the findings of the study will be published at a later stage.

Public consultation

This public consultation ran between 12 December 2018 and 3 April 2019, to gather the views of a wide audience: individual citizens, economic operators, pet owners, business organisations, workers and their representative organisations, non-governmental organisations, advisory bodies and public administrations interested in feed additives.

The views gathered are an important contribution to the European Commission's analysis of the existing legislative framework.

To complement the contributions gathered through the public consultation, the European Commission invited interested parties identified in the consultation strategy and national public authorities to complete questionnaires addressing specific issues about the authorisation procedure and the labelling and marketing of feed additives, including the costs of implementing the different legislative requirements.

The findings of these surveys complemented the results of the public consultation. A factual summary report, the contributions and the consultation's outcome are published on the consultation page.

Inception Impact Assessment

An Impact Assessment is planned for the revision of the Feed Additives Regulation. The impact assessment process is about gathering and analysing evidence to support the revision of the Feed Additives Regulation. It verifies the existence of the problems, identifies its underlying causes, assesses whether EU action is needed, and analyses the advantages and disadvantages of available solutions.

The impact assessment must compare the policy options on the basis of their economic, social and environmental impacts (quantified costs and benefits whenever possible) and present these in the Impact Assessment report.

Inception impact assessment roadmap

The roadmap for combined evaluation Roadmap/Inception Impact assessment aims to inform citizens and stakeholders about the European Commission's work. The goal is to allow them to provide feedback on the intended initiative and to participate effectively in future consultation activities.

Citizens and interested parties are, in particular, invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the current problem, situation and possible solutions; and to make available any relevant information that they may have. Including on possible impacts of the different options.

The roadmap was published on 14 December 2020. It invited citizens and stakeholders to provide input at an early stage of the evaluation process. The roadmap and feedback received can be consulted here.

Deadline: 25 January 2021 (00:00 Brussels time).

The consultation strategy informs citizens and stakeholders on the envisaged consultation activities, their timing and language regime. The consultation strategy also identifies stakeholders that can be affected by the initiative.

Closed public consultation

on the impact assessment of the feed additives Regulation

The public consultation aimed to collect the views of citizens about the EU legislation on the authorisation, labelling and use of feed additives as well as the views of professional and non-professional stakeholders.

It seeked to receive information on how citizens view the strengths and weaknesses of the current legislation and the perceived contribution of feed additives to improve sustainability of livestock farming and to keep the current high level of protection of human health, animal health and the environment.

Factual summary report of the publication.

Information regarding this consultation is available here.

Deadline: 17 June 2021 (23:59 Brussels time)

Impact assessment of proposed reforms to Regulation No. 1831/2003:

Pre-registration for stakeholder survey

A study, conducted on behalf of the European Commission, to inform the impact assessment for the reform of Regulation (EC) No. 1831/2003 was launched with the aim of collecting views on the proposed policy options, their potential effects and feasibility. A high level of participation by the feed additive industry and other interested stakeholders will strengthen the impact assessment analysis.

Stakeholder survey launched - 4 October 2021

A study conducted by ICF on behalf of the European Commission, to inform the impact assessment for the reform of Regulation (EC) No. 1831/2003.

This survey does not concern National Competent Authorities, who participated in another survey specifically designed for them.

This targeted stakeholder survey was launched on 4 October 2021. The survey closed on 17 November 2021 at 23:59hrs C.E.T.

National Competent Authorities survey launched - 5 October 2021.

A study conducted by ICF on behalf of the European Commission, to inform the impact assessment for the reform of Regulation (EC) No. 1831/2003.

This survey concerned National Competent Authorities (NCAs) that are responsible for feed additives legislation but also for some other legislative areas that are related to this initiative, for example: biocides, aquaculture, animal health, animal welfare or customs.

The targeted National Competent Authorities survey was launched on 5 October 2021. The survey closed on 16 November 2021 at 23:59hrs C.E.T.

Additional stakeholder survey launched - 26 April 2022

To clarify some aspects related to the impact of the proposed options on claims and labelling, a short survey was launched. The survey was launched on 26 April 2022 at 00:00 C.E.T. and closed on 16 May 2022 at 15:00 C.E.T.