News

22.02.2024

Amendments to technical regulation on food additives, flavorings and technological aids to come into effect on February 27

The amendments adopted by Decision No. 84 of the Commission's Council dated August 29, 2023, are a comprehensive document. It updates five sections of the Customs Union's Technical Regulation "Safety requirements to food additives, flavorings and technological aids" and its 29 annexes.

Five new concepts were introduced, a number of definitions were updated, and the list of permitted food additives was reduced from 362 to 349 by eliminating 19 items and putting six new food additives into circulation.

The list of flavoring substances for the manufacture of food flavorings has been significantly expanded, for each of which the content of the main substance, the scope of application and the maximum permissible level of content in food products have been established.

The document was adopted with due regard to the amendments made to international and European legislation, including the Codex Alimentarius, and in connection with the regulatory requirements of the Union's trading partner countries.

The best practices of food industries in a number of countries were taken into account with regard to the use of promising enzyme preparations, the list of which was expanded from 56 to 331 items. The scope of their application includes processing of fruits and vegetables, production of dairy, meat, fish, alcoholic beverages, bakery products, grain products, coffee, tea and some other goods. 

Given the conceptual framework envisaged in the technical regulations on certain types of food products adopted after enacting this technical regulation, as well as given the interstate standards enacted after 2013, the amendments establish updated names for many types of food products. This significantly facilitates the procedure of their identification.

By enshrining safety requirements to a number of new food additives, flavorings and technological aids in the technical regulation on food additives, flavorings and technological aids, it will be possible to apply new technologies for the manufacture of modern food products.

Decision No. 8 of the Commission's Board dated January 23, 2024 provides for a transition period of 36 months for the amendments in respect of the validity of documents on conformity assessment of various technical regulation objects of the said technical regulation, as well as their production, marking and release into circulation, drawn up before the enactment of the amendments.