Legal basis of the new Regulation medicated feed and at repealing

Opinion on the legal basis of the Manufacture, placing on the market and use of medicated feed and repealing Council Directive 90/167/EEC (COM(2014/0556 – C8-0143/2014 – 2014/0255(COD))
The scope of the proposed Regulation covers the manufacture, placing on the market and use of medicated feed in food-producing animals and in pets within the European Union7 . Recital 2 to the proposal states that "[l]ivestock production occupies a very important place in the agriculture of the Union. The rules concerning medicated feed have significant influence on the keeping and on the rearing of animals, including non-food producing animals, and on the production of products of animal origin."

If adopted, the Regulation will repeal Council Directive 90/167/EEC. Recital 4 to the proposal specifies that "[e]xperience with the application of Directive 90/167/EEC has shown that further measures should be taken to strengthen the effective functioning of the Internal Market and to explicitly give and improve the possibility to treat non-food producing animals by medicated feed."

In this connection, the explanatory memorandum to the proposal states that "(t)he aim of the review of the medicated feed rules is to harmonise at a high safety level the manufacture, marketing and use of medicated feed and intermediate products in the EU and to reflect technical progress in this field", and furthermore stresses that "the existing legislation is likely to perpetuate existing discrepancies in its implementation between the Member States. This creates an uneven playing field for professional operators on the single market. There is a need to harmonise implementation of the legislation, reduce financial and administrative burdens and support innovation."