Deutscher Verband der Aromenindustrie e. V.
DVAI
Dem Verband obliegt es, die allgemeinen und gemeinsamen ideellen, wirtschaftlichen, rechtlichen und sozialpolitischen Interessen seiner Mitglieder zu fördern und zu schützen.
ID: 7138065222-89
Lobbying Activity
Response to Flavourings - as regards certain flavouring substances
23 Nov 2016
DVAI input for Public Consultation on FGE.203 Draft Regulation
DVAI (German Association of the Flavour Industry) represents the German Flavour Industry. Over 60 members are affiliated to the DVAI and represent 95 % of the German Flavour Industry. Approx. 70 % of our members are small and medium size enterprises. The DVAI has the following comments regarding the Commission proposal for a regulation on the substances of FGE.203:
EU Union List of Flavouring Substances was adopted with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 872/2012 in 2012. The recitals clearly pointed out, that it was and it is appropriate to include substances still under evaluation in the Union List which are currently placed on the market, to continue to be used in or on foods until risk assessment and authorisation procedures have been concluded.
The first stage of the comprehensive safety review of the flavouring substances on the EU market was completed by the European Food Safety Authority in November 2010. The Chair of the CEF Panel at this time Dr. Klaus-Dieter Jany specified in the EFSA Press Release that… “In most cases the substances were found to be safe, but for a number of them the Panel has asked for more data. This does not necessarily mean that these substances pose a risk to health, just that we need further information to be able to complete our safety assessments.”
The Commission as well stated in their Press Release on the publication of the Union List: “The new list includes over 2100 authorised flavouring substances. A further 400 will remain on the market until EFSA concludes its evaluation. These have been used for a long time and have already been assessed as safe by other scientific bodies.” The substances which are included in this proposal are used in global commerce since decades and have been approved for their safety by other global risk assessment bodies such as JECFA (the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) and the FEMA Expert Panel (FEXPAN).
In April 2014 EFSA published an opinion on the substances of the FGE.203 and the CEF panel concluded that the concern for two representative substances could not be ruled out based on the available data at that time. Therefore, the flavour industry initiated additional testing to demonstrate the safety of these materials and in the meantime submitted additional data to enable EFSA to complete the safety assessment.
Against the background that it is expected that EFSA will fully evaluate and clear these substances in 2017, the precautionary measure laid down in this proposal will only apply for a few months, but cause unnecessary administrative burden for the flavour and food business operators. The flavour industry must inform their customers about the presence and the use levels of the flavouring substances affected by this amendment. This could also result in unnecessary reformulations. Especially for SME this could be very burdensome.
In the light of the Commission´s activities regarding “better regulation” the DVAI strongly encourages the Commission to stick to the approach as established in Regulation 872/2012 (Union List) [i.e. listing of all flavouring substances, including those for which the evaluation by EFSA is still ongoing] and consequently do not continue with this proposal.
The German Flavour Industry recommends to keep to the well established legal framework with the footnote approach and therefore to not change the legal status of this substances until the safety assessment by EFSA based on the newly provided data by EFFA is completed.
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