Conciliation accord satisfies EP demand for pesticide-free baby food

Citation

Jukes, D. (1999), "Conciliation accord satisfies EP demand for pesticide-free baby food", British Food Journal, Vol. 101 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/bfj.1999.070101dab.013

Conciliation accord satisfies EP demand for pesticide-free baby food

Food for babies, infants and young children should be as free as possible from pesticide residues: this has been the firm stance of Parliament throughout protracted discussions with the Council and Commission on a Commission proposal streamlining existing Community legislation on food for special nutritional purposes. These talks ended successfully on 18 March when the joint Parliament/Council Conciliation Committee adopted the proposal without debate.

At its second reading of the proposal on 18 December 1997 Parliament adopted a single amendment to the Council’s common position. This amendment insisted that specific provisions be drawn up to ensure that processed cereal-based baby foods be free of pesticides. As a result of parliamentary pressure throughout the talks, the Commission has now secured the agreement of the member states to two Commission directives which stipulate that pesticide residues not only in cereal-based baby foods but also in infant formulae must not exceed 0.01mg/kg (which, in practice, is said to be the minimum detectable level). As a result, Parliament was able to withdraw its second-reading amendment.