Insights Food, Agribusiness & Beverage

Commission Proposal to Simplify EU Food and Feed Safety Rules

Feb 24, 2026

3 min read

Commission Proposal to Simplify EU Food and Feed Safety Rules

The European Commission has published a package of proposals to simplify food and feed safety rules. The new measures are intended to streamline renewal and authorisation processes, make regulatory record-keeping more efficient and align requirements for imported food products with those produced in the EU. If adopted, these proposed measures could ease compliance pressures and deliver efficiency gains for businesses operating across the food and agriculture sector.

What you need to know

The Food and Feed Safety Simplification package proposes a number of reforms to streamline the EU’s legislation on food and feed safety, animals and plants.

The simplification package forms part of the EU Commission’s Vision for Agriculture and Food, a comprehensive strategy for the legislative overhaul of the EU’s agri-food sector.

The proposals have been submitted to the European Parliament and Council for consideration in advance of adoption of legislation.

The European Commission has published proposals for a directive and a regulation for the simplification of food and feed safety requirements in the EU. These legislative proposals, collectively known as the Food and Feed Safety simplification package, represent a key deliverable of the EU’s Vision for Agriculture and Food first announced in February 2025. This roadmap outlines the Commission’s proposals for the future of farming and food in Europe, with a strong focus placed on strengthening the attractiveness and competitiveness of the EU’s agri-food industry while also future-proofing the sector.

Key features

The package aims to tackle what have been described as overlapping, unnecessary and disproportionate rules in the sector by simplifying various existing measures:

Pesticides and bio-pesticides: the package proposes removing the current requirement for all approved pesticides to be re-evaluated every 10 years, with some exceptions in the case of more hazardous substances. Instead, the proposal suggests that renewals and targeted reassessments occur only when there are scientific reasons to do so. This proposal aims to improve the capacity of authorities to assess bio-pesticides and accelerate market approval for more sustainable alternatives to chemical pesticides.

Biocidal products: similar proposals have been submitted for biocidal products, whereby the systematic review of all active ingredients will be replaced with a more efficient system with a view to free up resources.

Feed additives: a proposal targeting burdensome and resource-intensive authorisation processes for feed additives by removing renewal requirements for substances falling outside higher risk categories. A digital labelling system relating to certain non-safety information has also been proposed, reducing costs for companies and allowing information to be updated more efficiently.

Maximum residue levels: the Commission has recommended that stronger rules on pesticide residues be introduced for imported goods in order to align these products with those grown in the EU and ensure a fairer playing field for European-based producers.

Livestock farming: the proposals streamline certain record-keeping rules for livestock farmers and remove overlapping animal welfare requirements arising between mandatory reports on depopulation operations and those under the Official Controls legislation.

The measures proposed under the simplification package are estimated to generate potential savings of €428 million annually for businesses as a result of a reduced administrative burden and lower compliance costs, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, the proposals are anticipated to save national administrations €611 million annually.

What’s next?

The package has been submitted to the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the proposals. The adopted versions of the measure, as well as implementation, will depend on the progression of these negotiations, with finalisation of draft legislation expected to continue until late 2026.