The European Commission (EC) unveiled a food and feed safety reform package on December 16, 2025, that could save businesses and governments more than €1 billion in compliance costs across several sectors while maintaining strict safety standards across the European Union (EU).
EU businesses, struggling under the weight of overlapping requirements and cumbersome procedures, stand to realize €428 million in annual savings, while national administrations would benefit from €661 million annually, including €939 million in combined administrative cost reductions across the various regulatory domains addressed by the reform.
Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, characterized the initiative as a direct response to industry concerns. “Our proposals remove overlaps in requirements and reporting, address legal uncertainties and eliminate procedures that had little added value,” he said. “In doing so, we respond to clear calls from Member States and stakeholders, deliver hundreds of millions of euros in administrative savings for businesses and public authorities, and give farmers faster access to innovative and more sustainable products.”
The package targets five critical regulatory areas: plant protection products, biocidal products, feed regulations, official controls, and animal health and welfare legislation.
The feed additives sector is also expected to benefit from the reform package, Eva Hrncirova, Commission Spokesperson for Health and Food Safety told Expana in a recent exclusive interview, highlighting that the feed additives currently undergoing evaluation will not immediately benefit from the streamlined procedures since all applications for renewal submitted until the package enters force must be completed under existing procedures.
Only additives other than coccidiostats and histomonostats with authorizations expiring at least one year after entry into force will qualify for exemption from the renewal submission obligation, Hrncirova said.
Hrncirova explained that the most transformative change for feed business operators addresses the systematic 10-year renewal requirement for feed additive authorizations, except for coccidiostats and histomonostats. This modification directly benefits operators by eliminating recurring financial and administrative burdens that disproportionately affect small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Hrncirova said: “On average, such direct costs per renewal application were estimated at €294,433 (2024 figures). Based on projected renewal volumes between 2025 and 2034, assuming 751 applications in total, applicants would benefit from an average cumulative cost saving exceeding €220 million in renewal-related dossiers.”
The cost savings extend beyond elimination of renewal dossier preparation, Hrncirova added. Additional measures simplifying modification procedures and allowing digital labeling for certain additives’ information further reduce expenses for affected operators. However, Hrncirova emphasized that these cost reductions do not compromise safety standards: “The proposed package will in no way reduce the level of requirements to demonstrate that an additive is safe and efficacious.”
From the operators’ point of view, the feed additives market in the EU has historically been faced with considerable administrative challenges. As of December 19, 2025, the EU feed additives register listed 1,669 authorized feed additives, with 354 additives currently under assessment either for re-authorization (219) or renewal (135).
“The Commission currently delivers on all authorization obligations without undue delay,” Hrncirova said, pointing out that delays in processing primarily stem from applicants submitting incomplete data and the subsequent EFSA assessment, rather than EC resource constraints.
“The backlog of re-authorizations continues slowly decreasing as the EC processes applications submitted through 2010. However, the number of renewals simultaneously increases as additives that received initial authorization or re-authorization at least 10 years ago approach their renewal deadlines,” Hrncirova explained.
Hrncirova noted that the notion of backlog applies only to re-authorizations for additives allowed before Regulation 1831/2003. Therefore, no backlog exists for applications for new feed additives or renewals, since they are “addressed as they come with no undue delay,” she said.
Currently, no specific procedure exists for requesting modifications to non-holder specific feed additive authorizations. Operators wishing to introduce changes must either submit new comprehensive application dossiers, generating costs, or use an indirect procedure via EC request, which then requires ad hoc mandates to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). But now the new proposal allows operators seeking to modify terms of non-holder specific authorizations to submit targeted modification requests limited to relevant supporting data through the ESFC platform.
“This workflow streamlines processes while improving legal clarity,” the Commission Spokesperson for Health and Food Safety argued.
Asked whether the package responds to industry concerns that regulatory complexity and extended timelines have prompted feed additive manufacturers to launch new products in other global regions first, Hrncirova responded: “The amendment would particularly reduce costs and uncertainty linked to pending renewal decisions, freeing resources that companies could reallocate to research, product development and market expansion, and strengthen the competitiveness and innovation capacity of operators who carry out their activities in the EU compared with those established and active in third countries.”
“The proposed simplification and clarification measures, through cost and administrative burden reduction and better legal clarity, aim to achieve improved efficiency of the additives’ authorization system and thereby increased competitiveness of EU feed businesses, especially SMEs, positive effects on investments and the development and availability of new innovative feed additives in the EU,” she went on to say, adding that removing the systematic renewal obligation (except for coccidiostats/histomonostats) should prove particularly impactful and allow operators to allocate resources instead to the development of novel feed additives (R&D) and thereby further market expansion.
The operational workflow between the EC and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and its feed additive panel is also expected to benefit from streamlined procedures, Hrncirova told Expana, as the drop in renewal applications due to the regulatory changes will allow EFSA to prioritize ongoing re-authorization applications and higher-value activities such as assessment of new additives and emerging risk identification. The reform package should also enable the EC to focus on additives presenting higher risk profiles and concentrate resources on other legislative areas concerning feed beyond specifically feed additives.
According to the EC, the regulatory changes benefit not only EU-based manufacturers but also third country producers exporting to the Union. For example, Chinese feed additive manufacturers will gain from proposed flexibilities in the same manner as EU-based manufacturers.
While the simplification package incorporates targeted modifications to Regulation 1831/2003 that fit within the regulation’s scope and objectives without altering core policy aims, moving forward, the EC may consider further possible modifications as appropriate. Hrncirova noted that any modifications would consider the evaluation of the Regulation already carried out as well as subsequent developments and stakeholders’ feedback concerning the implementation of the legislation.
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Written by Simon Duke
