Revision of the legislation for dietetic foods under consideration by the European Parliament Dec 2011

The European Commission’s proposal (available here) to revise the current legislation for Foods for Particular Nutritional Uses (PARNUTs), known as the ‘PARNUTs Framework Directive’, has been under discussion by the European Council of Ministers since October 2011 and the Polish Presidency of the Council has issued a report on the progress to date as part of its handover to the new Danish Presidency which will take over from 1 January 2012.

UK stakeholders have received little update on meetings of the Council of Ministers regarding matters that could impact UK interests.  The publication of the UK position on proposed changes to the legislation is still awaited from the Department of Health following its UK-wide consultation in September this year.

The Commission’s proposal is now under consideration by the key committees of the European Parliament.  The Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee and the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) Committee will provide views and amendments to the proposal to the Environment, Health & Food Safety (ENVI) Committee which has main responsibility for overseeing the progress of the proposal through European legislative procedures.

BSNA and the European Dietetic Foods Industry Association (IDACE) look forward to fair and transparent discussion as the three pillars of the EU - the Commission, the Council and the Parliament - seek to finalise the new legislation.  BSNA will be following the discussions of the parliamentary Committees and offering our views as a dietetic foods industry to UK members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to further their understanding of these vital foods and the impact that the changes to the legislation could have on those that rely on them.

The Polish Presidency’s report can be accessed here.