Wageningen: The food and feed safety omnibus moved a decisive step forward on 30 September 2026, when the Council of the EU agreed its negotiating mandate on the package known in Brussels as Omnibus X. The mandate lets the Irish presidency open talks with the European Parliament and aim for a provisional deal by the end of 2026. Researchers in this Dutch agrifood hub follow the file closely, because it rewrites how the Union approves pesticides, biocides and feed additives.
The food and feed safety omnibus amends five bodies of law: the rules on maximum residue levels, plant protection products, biocidal products, feed additives, and genetically modified food and feed. Ministers broadened the Commission’s approach in one area. They want residue limits for hazardous pesticides that the EU has banned to fall to technical zero, and they extend that logic beyond cancer and reproductive hazards to substances that harm honeybees or groundwater. Transitional provisions let compliant products stay on shelves for a limited time, which should cut food waste.
Under the food and feed safety omnibus, farmers and manufacturers gain the most visible relief on approvals. Under the Council text, a first approval of a plant protection substance would run for 15 years and later renewals for 25 years. Low-risk substances would receive unlimited approvals, and biocontrol products would enter a fast-track procedure with priority assessment. Test data protection would grow from 10 to 13 years for regular products and from 13 to 15 years for low-risk ones, a change that companies say rewards innovation. The biocidal products regulation would adopt the same 15-year and 25-year periods.
Ministers added safeguards that the Commission did not propose. The European Food Safety Authority would carry out periodic scientific reviews, and the text treats substances classed as category 2 carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction more strictly. A new EU database would hold test reports in one central place. The food and feed safety omnibus therefore pairs simplification with oversight, a balance that the Council presents as its main contribution.
Feed and biotechnology rules also change. Most authorised feed additives would no longer need systematic renewal, modification procedures would shrink, and digital labels could carry certain information. For fermentation, the Council clarifies that products made with genetically modified microorganisms do not count as produced from genetically modified organisms. It also asks the Commission to draft good manufacturing practice guidance that keeps residues of those microorganisms to a minimum, a step the food and feed safety omnibus needs to give producers legal clarity.
Irish ministers framed the mandate as proof that simplification can work. Thomas Byrne said it should deliver a more competitive and resilient agrifood sector with less red tape and no compromise on food safety or environmental protection. Martin Heydon argued that farmers and agrifood businesses need predictability and fewer unnecessary burdens so they can invest and compete globally.
Parliament now holds the pen. Its negotiators will test whether longer approval periods and stronger data protection fit their views on pesticide risk, and environmental groups already warn against weakening scrutiny. The food and feed safety omnibus will succeed only if it cuts paperwork without lowering the protection that consumers expect, and the trilogues in the coming months will show whether the Council’s balance survives.
