EU / Food & feed Safety Omnibus: "We finally obtained a legal definition of biocontrol" (IBMA)

"There is finally legal clarity on what biocontrol means at EU level. This will speed up the approval process. It also improves access across Member States: the introduction of tacit agreement for mutual recognition after authorisations have expired really improves farmers' access to the same biocontrol tools. This improves predictability: we have a better idea of when an innovation may come along, when existing active substances may disappear, with a better re-approval process", said Alessandra Moccia, Vice-President of IBMA Global, on 17/12/2025.

The tenth package of simplification measures, covering food and feed safety, was presented by the European Commission on 16/12/2025. It includes plans to speed up marketing procedures for biopesticides, harmonised production standards of pesticide residues for imports and easing of the obligation to renew authorisations for feed additives.

" We think that the definition of biocontrol could have been more restricted. We would really like it to be restricted to unmodified natural compounds. Several classes of pesticides are derivatives of…