European Union Amends Legislation on Feed Additives for Poultry

Strategic Insights -

The European Union has issued a new regulation amending the authorization of certain feed additives for poultry, including the preparation of carvacrol, thymol, D-carvone, methyl salicylate, and L-menthol. The regulation, adopted on June 15, 2023, corrects the functional group of the feed additive, which was previously described as "other zootechnical additives (improvement of zootechnical parameters)". The new description refers to "other zootechnical additives (improvement of performance parameters)", as recommended by the European Food Safety Authority.

Key Takeaways:

  • The European Union has amended the regulation on feed additives for poultry to correct the functional group of the feed additive carvacrol, thymol, D-carvone, methyl salicylate, and L-menthol.
  • The correction is in line with the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority, which stated that the additive has the potential to increase growth performance in chickens for fattening, chickens reared for laying, and minor poultry species reared for laying.
  • The new regulation specifies that the functional group should appear on the label of the feed additive, premixtures, and compound feed containing it.
  • A transitional period is provided to allow feed business operators to make necessary adaptations to the labels, with a deadline of December 17, 2023, for the feed additives and premixtures, and June 17, 2024, for the compound feed and feed materials.

Statistics:

  • The regulation was adopted on June 15, 2023, and will enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
  • The transitional period for feed additives and premixtures is until December 17, 2023, and for compound feed and feed materials until June 17, 2024.
  • The new regulation is a result of the EU's ongoing efforts to ensure the safety and quality of food and feed products for human consumption.

Sources:

  • Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1168 of 15 June 2023 correcting Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/996 concerning the authorisation of the preparation of carvacrol, thymol, D-carvone, methyl salicylate and L-menthol as a feed additive for chickens for fattening, chickens reared for laying and minor poultry species reared for laying (holder of authorisation Biomin GmbH) (Text with EEA relevance).
  • Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on additives for use in animal nutrition.
  • EFSA Journal 2019;17(6):5724.