EU Proposes “New Deal for Consumers”

The European Commission has proposed changes to directives governing food safety, marketing and distribution. According to an EU news release, the proposal would update the General Food Law, “which dates back from 2002 and thus needs an update,” and “will give citizens greater access to information submitted to the European Food Safety Authority [(EFSA)] on approvals concerning the agri-food chain.” The EU proposes to create a registry of commissioned studies available to the public and predicts that Member States will be more involved in EFSA’s governance structure and scientific panels. The proposal also reportedly targets “dual foods,” or foods marketed across the continent but produced and sold with ingredients of reduced quality in some areas.

Additional details on the New Deal for Consumers, including proposed rules on collective redress, appear in Shook’s Product Liability Bulletin.