Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 on genetically modified food and feed, as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission
Date: 2006-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU law, animal nutrition, consumer information, genetically modified organism, health policy, human nutrition, operation of the Institutions

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.12.2006 
COM(2006) 912 final 

2006/0307 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending 
Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 
on genetically modified food and feed, as regards the implementing powers conferred on 
the Commission  

(presented by the Commission) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
2006/0307 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending 
Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 
on genetically modified food and feed, as regards the implementing powers conferred on 
the Commission  

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 
37, 95 and 152, paragraph 4 b) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2, 

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions3, 

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty4 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 
September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed5 provides that certain measures 
are to be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 
laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the 
Commission6. 

Decision 1999/468/EC has been amended by Decision 2006/512/EC, which introduced 
a  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  for  measures  of  general  scope  to  amend  non-
essential  elements  of  a  basic  instrument  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedure 
referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, including by deleting some of those elements 
or by supplementing the instrument by the addition of new non-essential elements. 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
… 
OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1. 
OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 
11). 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
                                                 
(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

In accordance with the joint statement of the European Parliament, the Council and the 
Commission7 on Decision 2006/512/EC, instruments which are already in force must 
be  adjusted  in  accordance  with  the  applicable  procedures.  The  aforesaid  statement 
indicates a list of instruments that should be adjusted as a matter of urgency, including 
Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003. 

In  particular  power  should  be  conferred  on  the  Commission  to  define  whether  a 
particular food or feed falls within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 and to 
lower  the  thresholds  for  the  labelling  of  adventitious  and  technically  unavoidable 
presence  of  material  which  contains,  consists  of  or  is  produced  from  genetically 
modified  organisms,  as  well  as  for  the  adventitious  or  technically  unavoidable 
presence of genetically modified material which has benefited from a favourable risk 
assessment  in  food  and  feed.  Since  those  measures  are  of  general  scope  and  are 
designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1829/2003,  or 
supplement that Regulation by the addition of new non-essential elements, they should 
be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in 
Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC. 

In  order  to  guarantee  economic  operators  a  rapid  decision-making  process  and  take 
into  account  advances  in  science  and  technology,  it  should  be  possible  to  curtail  the 
time-limits  foreseen  by  the  new  procedure  on  grounds  of  efficiency.  On  grounds  of 
efficiency, the normal time-limits for the regulatory procedure with scrutiny should be 
curtailed  for  deciding  whether  a  type  of  food  or  feed  falls  within  the  scope  of 
Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 and for establishing lower thresholds for the labelling 
of  adventitious  and  technically  unavoidable  presence  of  material  which  contains, 
consists  of  or  is  produced  from  genetically  modified  organisms  as  well  as  for  the 
adventitious  or  technically  unavoidable  presence  of  genetically  modified  material 
which has benefited from a favourable risk assessment in food and feed. 

(6) 

Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 should therefore be amended accordingly. 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

 In Article 3, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: 

"2. Where necessary, measures to determine whether a type of food falls within the 
scope  of  this  Section  which  are  designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of  this 
Regulation  by  supplementing  it  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  regulatory 
procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 35(4)." 

(2) 

In Article 12, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: 

"4. Appropriate lower thresholds may be established in particular in respect of foods 
containing  or  consisting  of  GMOs  or  in  order  to  take  into  account  advances  in 

7 

OJ C 255, 21.10.2006, p.1  

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
 
                                                 
science  and  technology.  Those  measures  designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements 
of  this  Regulation  by  supplementing  it  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the 
regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 35(4)." 

(3) 

In Article 15, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: 

"2. Where necessary, measures to determine whether a type of food falls within the 
scope  of  this  Section  which  are  designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of  this 
Regulation  by  supplementing  it  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  regulatory 
procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 35(4)." 

(4) 

In Article 24, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: 

"2. Measures to establish appropriate lower thresholds in particular in respect of feed 
containing  or  consisting  of  GMOs,  or  in  order  to  take  into  account  advances  in 
science and technology, which are designed to amend non-essential elements of this 
Regulation  by  supplementing  it  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  regulatory 
procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 35(4)." 

(5) 

In Article 32, the fifth paragraph is replaced by the following: 

"Detailed  rules  for  implementing  this  Article  and  the  Annex  may  be  adopted  in 
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 35(2). 

Any measures to change the Annex designed to amend non-essential elements of this 
Regulation  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  regulatory  procedure  with 
scrutiny referred to in Article 35(3)." 

(6) 

In Article 35, paragraphs 3 and 4 are replaced by the following: 

"3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a (1) to (4) and Article 7 of 
Decision  1999/468/EC  shall  apply,  having  regard  to  the  provisions  of  Article  8 
thereof.  

4.  Where  reference  is  made  to  this  paragraph,  Article  5a  (1)  to  (4)  and  (5)  (b)  and 
Article  7  of  Decision  1999/468/EC  shall  apply,  having  regard  to  the  provisions  of 
Article 8 thereof.  

The  time  limits  laid  down  in  Article 5a  (3)(c)  and  (4)(b)  and  (4)(e)  of 
Decision 1999/468/EC  shall  be 
two  months 
respectively." 

two  months,  one  month  and 

(7) 

In Article 47, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: 

"3.  Measures  to  lower  the  thresholds  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  in  particular  for 
GMOs  sold  directly  to  the  final  consumer,  which  are  designed  to  amend  non-
essential  elements  of  this  Regulation  by  supplementing  it  may  be  adopted  in 
accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 35(4)." 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the […] day following that of its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

5 

   EN