Regulation (EC) No 107/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) provides that the regulatory procedure established by Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (4) is to be applied for the adoption of implementing measures concerning that Regulation.

(2) Decision 1999/468/EC has been amended by Decision 2006/512/EC, which introduced the regulatory procedure with scrutiny for the adoption of measures of general scope and designed to amend non-essential elements of a basic instrument adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, inter alia, by deleting some of those elements or by supplementing the instrument with new non-essential elements.

(3) The Commission should be empowered to adopt Community measures concerning the labelling, presentation and advertising of certain foods; to establish derogations from certain provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006; to establish and update nutrient profiles and the conditions and exemptions under which they can be used; to establish and/or amend lists of nutrition and health claims; and to amend the list of foods in respect of which the making of claims is restricted or prohibited. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of that Regulation, inter alia, by supplementing it with new non-essential elements, they must be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.

(4) When data protection provisions apply, the authorisation restricted to use by an individual operator should not prevent other applicants from applying for authorisation to use the same claim.

(5) Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 is hereby amended as follows:

‘2.   Amendments to the Annex shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 25(3) and, where appropriate, after consulting the Authority. Where appropriate, the Commission shall involve interested parties, in particular food business operators and consumer groups, in order to evaluate the perception and understanding of the claims in question.’;

‘Article 25 Committee procedure

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Strasbourg, 15 January 2008.

For the European Parliament The President H.-G. PÖTTERING

For the Council The President J. LENARČIČ

(1) OJ C 325, 30.12.2006, p. 37.

(2) Opinion of the European Parliament of 7 June 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 17 December 2007.

(3) OJ L 404, 30.12.2006, p. 9. Corrected by OJ L 12, 18.1.2007, p. 3.

(4) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11).