The European Parliament’s draft report on the Food and Feed Safety Omnibus sends a positive signal. Simplification should not be about reducing paperwork for its own sake. It should help farmers access innovation more quickly while maintaining Europe’s high standards for health, safety and the environment.
The report takes several steps in that direction, but important questions remain.
Faster Access to Innovation
European farmers are facing growing pressures. Climate change, evolving pest threats and global competition all require access to a broad range of crop protection solutions.
The draft report includes several improvements that could help the system work better in practice. A stronger focus on agronomic realities can help ensure that regulatory decisions reflect what farmers can actually use in the field. Measures to streamline procedures and improve mutual recognition could also help bring solutions to market more quickly.
Just as importantly, the report recognises that farmers need a full toolbox. Biological and conventional crop protection products should not be seen as competing approaches, but as complementary solutions for different crops, pest pressures and growing conditions.
Making mutual recognition mandatory across zones and aligning active substance approvals with product authorisations could bring the system closer to what farmers need in practice: less duplication, faster decisions and broader, more predictable access to innovation.
Who Pays for Innovation?
One of the key debates in the Omnibus concerns regulatory data protection.
Every crop protection solution relies on extensive scientific studies demonstrating safety and effectiveness. Developing a new crop protection product now costs an average of €276 million and requires years of investment.
The question is simple: who will continue investing in this science if the framework becomes less predictable?
A successful regulatory system should encourage companies to generate the data regulators rely on. Changes that reduce the value of those investments risk having the opposite effect, particularly in areas with smaller returns such as minor uses, renewals and smaller agricultural markets.
If the framework becomes less predictable, companies will inevitably have to be more selective about where and how they invest. The result could be fewer solutions reaching farmers in the future.
Keeping Science at the Centre
The Omnibus debate also includes discussions on Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs).
MRLs are science-based standards that help ensure food and feed safety while facilitating trade and food supply. They are established following rigorous scientific assessment and play an important role in maintaining both consumer confidence and predictable trading conditions.
As negotiations continue, it will be important to preserve this risk-based approach. Strong consumer protection and science-based decision-making go hand in hand.
Turning Simplification into Results
The Food and Feed Safety Omnibus offers a genuine opportunity to modernise Europe’s regulatory framework.
The Parliament’s draft report contains several positive elements that could help farmers access innovation more quickly and make the system more practical. The next step is ensuring that simplification also supports investment, protects science-based decision-making and strengthens the availability of solutions across the full crop protection toolbox.
Ultimately, success will not be measured by the number of legislative changes adopted. It will be measured by whether farmers gain access to the safe, effective and innovative tools they need to remain competitive and farm more sustainably.
For the position paper on the draft report from the European Parliament on the Food and Feed Safety Omnibus click here