Irina Kireeva, Robert Black

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 6 (2011), Issue 3, Page 174 - 186

Residues of plant protection products, ‘PPPs’, (pesticides used in crop protection) in food are a very important element of chemical contamination of food that is potentially harmful to human health. PPPs are one of the classes of so-called ‘contaminants’ in the World Trade Organisation’s SPS Agreement requiring all food safety measures applied to imports to be ‘scientifically justified’ and ‘non-discriminatory’ and hence PPP contamination has become a major issue in trade relations, particularly in the case of the European Union’s (EU) exports of food to the Russian Federation. After exploring PPP residues in the general context of food safety and in the context of international trade rules, this article investigates the legal basis of setting maximum residue limits (MRLs) in the EU and Russian Federation in comparison with the international standard MRLs set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Checklists on what MRL applies to a particular commodity in the EU and Russian Federation are also provided. Of particular note are the different approaches to ‘zero tolerance’ to particular PPPs. The claim of the Russian Federation to have adopted a higher standard of protection against PPP contamination of food than the EU is also examined in this context.

Irina Kireeva, Bernard O’Connor

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 6 (2011), Issue 2, Page 104 - 115

This article is an overview of the recent EU law regulating fortification. The addition of nutrients into commonly eaten foods has been a common practice for many centuries. The practice is now known as “fortification” and is regularly used by European food manufactures, as well as worldwide. Prior to the new EU regulation Member State rules on the voluntary addition of vitamins and minerals to foods varied widely. In some States it was allowed, without restriction, to add vitamins and mineral to the food, if the addition did not pose any risk to health. In others, the addition or the enrichment was only allowed if it could be demonstrated that there was a nutritional need. These differences posed problems for free movement of goods in the EU. Foods produced in one Member State did not meet the standards applicable in other Member States. The purpose of EC Regulation 1925/2006 is to harmonise this area of the law so as to remove technical barriers to the free movement of goods but at the same time to set a high level of consumer protection across the Union. The Regulation covers the addition of vitamins and minerals and of certain other substances to foods.