FSA Letter, 24 July 2006

LABELLING - Allergen list in Annex IIIa of Labelling Directive 2000/13/EC to be amended

This letter informs of the outcome of the discussion at the Standing Committee Food Chain and Animal Health (SCOFCAH) meeting held on 19 July on a draft directive to amend the Annex Illa of Directive 2000/13/EC which lists the allergenic foods that have to be labelled whenever they are used in pre-packed foods.

The draft Directive was agreed at the meeting and will be adopted formally and published in the Official Journal in the Autumn. When the formal text is available, the Agency will be drafting national legislation to implement the changes, which will be the subject of a public consultation.

The main points agreed are as follows:

• The Annex Illa list will be amended to include molluscs and lupin, and products thereof;
• The Directive will enter into force 20 days after it is published in the Official Journal;
• Member States will have 12 months from that date to implement national legislation;
• Industry will have a further 12 months to comply with the new labelling provisions, although products produced and labelled before that time can continue to be sold whilst stocks last.

The directive is not likely to further define the term "molluscs" other than in a reference to the EFSA opinion, which refers to gastropods, bivalves and cephalopods. We will be amending the guidance that accompanied the 2004 national legislation to reflect this amendment and will address this issue in the revised guidance.

Industry will wish to note that if there are any products derived from molluscs or lupin that they consider should be exempt from these labelling provisions, they may request such an exemption, by lodging an application with the European Commission. The application should include a scientific dossier, which will be assessed by EFSA.