Food safety: smoke flavourings used on foods, authorisation procedure (Directive 88/388/EEC, Regulation (EC) No 178/2002)

2002/0163(COD)
The committee adopted the report by Minerva Melpomeni MALLIORI (PES, GR) broadly approving the proposal, subject to a few amendments under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure. It was opposed to the inclusion of a positive list of untreated wood which may be used for the production of primary smoke condensates and primary tar fractions, arguing that the list proposed by the Commission in Annex I was not exhaustive and that traditional smoking methods and natural reserves of woods varied between Member States. It therefore proposed that Annex I be deleted. The committee also added a new article setting out explicit provisions on public access to documents in connection with applications for authorisation of smoke flavourings. As the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is given a key role in the authorisation procedure under the regulation, the committee argued that both the general rules on public access to documents under Regulation 1049/2001 and the relevant provisions of the 2002 EFSA Regulation should apply.�