CHAPTER IV

COMMON PROVISIONS

Products likely to be used as both food and feed
Article 27
1
Where a product is likely to be used as both food and feed, a single application under Articles 5 and 17 must be submitted and must give rise to a single opinion from the Food Safety Authority and a single decision of the appropriate authority.
2
The Food Safety Authority must consider whether the application for authorisation of a product should be submitted as a single application for authorisation as both food and feed and advise the appropriate authority accordingly.

... Register
Article 28
1
The appropriate authority shall establish ... a ... register of genetically modified food and feed, in this Regulation referred to as ‘the Register’.
2
The Food Safety Authority must maintain the Register and make it available to the public.

Public access
Article 29
1
The application for authorisation, supplementary information from the applicant, opinions from the competent authorities designated in accordance with Article 4 of Directive 2001/18/EC, monitoring reports and information from the authorisation holder, excluding confidential information, shall be made accessible to the public.
2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Confidentiality
Article 30
1
The applicant may indicate which information submitted under this Regulation it wishes to be treated as confidential on the ground that its disclosure might significantly harm its competitive position. Verifiable justification must be given in such cases.
2
Without prejudice to paragraph 3, the Food Safety Authority shall determine, after consultation with the applicant, which information should be kept confidential and shall inform the applicant of its decision.
3
Information relating to the following shall not be considered confidential:
a
name and composition of the GMO, food or feed referred to in Articles 3(1) and 15(1) and, where appropriate, indication of the substrate and the micro-organism;
b
general description of the GMO and the name and address of the authorisation-holder;
c
physico-chemical and biological characteristics of the GMO, food or feed referred to in Articles 3(1) and 15(1);
d
effects of the GMO, food or feed referred to in Articles 3(1) and 15(1) on human and animal health and on the environment;
e
effects of the GMO, food or feed referred to in Articles 3(1) and 15(1) on the characteristics of animal products and its nutritional properties;
f
methods for detection, including sampling and identification of the transformation event and, where applicable, for the detection and identification of the transformation event in the food or feed referred to in Articles 3(1) and 15(1);
g
information on waste treatment and emergency response.
4
Notwithstanding paragraph 2, the Food Safety Authority must on request supply the appropriate authority with all information in its possession.
5
The use of the detection methods and the reproduction of the reference materials, provided under Article 5(3) and 17(3) for the purpose of applying this Regulation to the GMOs, food or feed to which an application refers, shall not be restricted by the exercise of intellectual property rights or otherwise.
6
The appropriate authority and the Food Safety Authority must take the necessary measures to ensure appropriate confidentiality of the information received by them under this Regulation except for information which must be made public if circumstances so require in order to protect human health, animal health or the environment.
7
If an applicant withdraws or has withdrawn an application, the Food Safety Authority and the appropriate authority must respect the confidentiality of commercial and industrial information, including research and development information, as well as any information in respect of which a claim of confidentiality is disputed.

Data protection
Article 31
The scientific data and other information in the application dossier required under Article 5(3) and (5) and Article 17(3) and (5) may not be used for the benefit of another applicant for a period of 10 years from the date of authorisation, unless the other applicant has agreed with the authorisation-holder that such data and information may be used.
On the expiry of this 10-year period, the findings of all or part of the evaluation conducted on the basis of the scientific data and information contained in the application dossier may be used by the Authority for the benefit of another applicant if the applicant can demonstrate that the food or feed for which it is seeking authorisation is essentially similar to a food or feed already authorised under this Regulation.

Reference laboratory
Article 32
1.
The appropriate authority may designate in accordance with Article 100 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 a reference laboratory to perform the duties and tasks set out in the Annex.
2.
Applicants for authorisation of genetically modified food and feed shall contribute to supporting the costs of the duties and tasks of the reference laboratory.
3.
The contributions from applicants shall not exceed the costs incurred in carrying out the validation of detection methods.
3.
The appropriate authority may prescribe—
a)
measures for implementing this Article and the Annex; and
b)
measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation and adapting the Annex.

Consultation with the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies
Article 33. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Emergency measures
Article 34
Where it is evident that products authorised by or in accordance with this Regulation are likely to constitute a serious risk to human health, animal health or the environment, or where, in the light of an opinion of the Food Safety Authority issued under Article 10 or Article 22, the need to suspend or modify urgently an authorisation arises, measures shall be taken under the procedures provided for in Articles 53 ... of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.

Committee procedure
Article 35
1
Any power to make regulations under this Regulation—
a
so far as exercisable by a Minister of the Crown, is exercisable by statutory instrument;
b
so far as exercisable by the Welsh Ministers, is exercisable by statutory instrument;
2
For regulations made under this Regulation by the Scottish Ministers, see also section 27 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 (Scottish statutory instruments).
3
Any power to make regulations under this Regulation includes power—
4
Any statutory instrument or Scottish statutory instrument containing regulations under this Regulation shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution—
a
in the case of England, of either House of Parliament;
b
in the case of Wales, of Senedd Cymru;
c
in the case of Scotland, of the Scottish Parliament;
5
In this Regulation, any power—
a
of the Secretary of State to make regulations is limited to regulations which apply in relation to England only;
b
of the Welsh Ministers to make regulations is limited to regulations which apply in relation to Wales only;
c
of the Scottish Ministers to make regulations is limited to regulations which apply in relation to Scotland only;

Administrative review
Article 36
1
Any decision taken under, or failure to exercise, the powers vested in the Food Safety Authority by this Regulation may be reviewed by the appropriate authority on its own initiative or in response to a request from any person directly and individually concerned.
2
To this effect a request shall be submitted to the appropriate authority within two months from the day on which the party concerned became aware of the act or omission in question.
3
The appropriate authority must take a decision within two months requiring, if appropriate, the Food Safety Authority to withdraw its decision or to remedy its failure to act.

Repeals
Article 37
The following Regulations shall be repealed with effect from the date of application of this Regulation:
- Regulation (EC) No 1139/98,
- Regulation (EC) No 49/2000,
- Regulation (EC) No 50/2000.

Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 258/97
Article 38
Regulation (EC) No 258/97 is hereby amended with effect from the date of application of this Regulation as follows:
1. The following provisions shall be deleted:
  - Article 1(2)(a) and (b),
  - Article 3(2), second subparagraph, and (3),
  - Article 8(1)(d),
  - Article 9.
2. In Article 3, the first sentence of paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following:
4.
By way of derogation from paragraph 2, the procedure referred to in Article 5 shall apply to foods or food ingredients referred to in Article 1(2)(d) and (e) which, on the basis of the scientific evidence available and generally recognised or on the basis of an opinion delivered by one of the competent bodies referred to in Article 4(3), are substantially equivalent to existing foods or food ingredients as regards their composition, nutritional value, metabolism, intended use and the level of undesirable substances contained therein.

Amendment to Directive 82/471/EEC
Article 39
The following paragraph shall be added to Article 1 of Directive 82/471/EEC with effect from the date of application of this Regulation:
3.
This Directive does not apply to products which act as direct or indirect protein sources that fall within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed .

Amendments to Directive 2002/53/EC
Article 40
Directive 2002/53/EC is hereby amended with effect from the date of application of this Regulation as follows:
1. Article 4(5) shall be replaced by the following:
5.
Further, when material derived from a plant variety is intended to be used in food falling within the scope of Article 3, or in feed falling within the scope of Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed , the variety shall be accepted only if it has been approved in accordance with that Regulation.
2. Article 7(5) shall be replaced by the following:
5.
Member States shall ensure that a variety intended to be used in food or feed as defined in Articles 2 and 3 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority, and laying down procedures in matters of food safety is accepted only if it has been authorised under the relevant legislation.

Amendments to Directive 2002/55/EC
Article 41
Directive 2002/55/EC is hereby amended with effect from the date of application of this Regulation as follows:
1. Article 4(3) shall be replaced by the following:
3.
Further, when material derived from a plant variety is intended to be used in food falling within the scope of Article 3, or in feed falling within the scope of Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed , the variety shall be accepted only if it has been approved in accordance with that Regulation.
2. Article 7(5) shall be replaced by the following:
5.
Member States shall ensure that a variety intended to be used in food or feed as defined in Articles 2 and 3 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority, and laying down procedures in matters of food safety is accepted only if it has been authorised under the relevant legislation.

Amendment to Directive 68/193/EEC
Article 42
Article 5ba(3) of Directive 68/193/EEC shall be replaced by the following wording with effect from the date of application of this Regulation:
3.
a)
Where products derived from vine-propagating material are intended to be used as or in food falling within the scope of Article 3 or as or in a feed falling within the scope of Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed , the vine variety concerned shall be accepted only if it has been authorised pursuant to the said Regulation.
b)
Member States shall ensure that a vine variety, from the propagating material of which products were derived intended for use in food and feed pursuant to Articles 2 and 3 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority, and laying down procedures in matters of food safety shall be accepted only if it has been authorised pursuant to the relevant legislation.

Amendments to Directive 2001/18/EC
Article 43
Directive 2001/18/EC is hereby amended with effect from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, as follows:
1. The following Article shall be inserted:

Transitional measures for adventitious or technically unavoidable presence of genetically modified organisms having benefited from a favourable risk evaluation
Article 12a
1
Placing on the market of traces of a GMO or combination of GMOs in products intended for direct use as food or feed or for processing shall be exempted from Articles 13 to 21 provided that they meet the conditions referred to in Article 47 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed .
2
This Article shall be applicable for a period of three years after the date of application of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003.
2. The following Article shall be inserted:

Measures to avoid the unintended presence of GMOs
Article 26a
1
Member States may take appropriate measures to avoid the unintended presence of GMOs in other products.
2
The Commission shall gather and coordinate information based on studies at Community and national level, observe the developments regarding coexistence in the Member States and, on the basis of the information and observations, develop guidelines on the coexistence of genetically modified, conventional and organic crops.

Information to be provided in accordance with the Cartagena Protocol
Article 44
1
Any authorisation, ... modification, suspension or revocation of authorisation of a GMO, food or feed referred to in Articles 3(1)(a) or (b) or 15(1)(a) or (b) shall be notified by the Food Safety Authority to the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol through the biosafety clearing house in accordance with Article 11(1) or Article 12(1) of the Cartagena Protocol, as the case may be.
The Food Safety Authority shall provide a copy of the information, in writing, to the national focal point of each Party that informs the Secretariat in advance that it does not have access to the biosafety clearing house.
2
The Food Safety Authority shall also process requests for additional information made by any Party in accordance with Article 11(3) of the Cartagena Protocol and shall provide copies of the laws, regulations and guidelines in accordance with Article 11(5) of that Protocol.

Penalties
Article 45. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Transitional measures for requests, labelling and notifications
Article 46
1
Requests submitted under Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 258/97 before the date of application of this Regulation shall be transformed into applications under Chapter II, Section 1 of this Regulation where the initial assessment report provided for under Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 258/97 has not yet been forwarded to the Commission, as well as in all cases where an additional assessment report is required in accordance with Article 6(3) or (4) of Regulation (EC) No 258/97. Other requests submitted under Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 258/97 before the date of application of this Regulation shall be processed under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 258/97, notwithstanding Article 38 of this Regulation.
2
The labelling requirements referred to in this Regulation shall not apply to products, the manufacturing process of which has commenced before the date of application of this Regulation, provided that these products are labelled in accordance with the legislation applicable to them before the date of application of this Regulation.
3
Notifications concerning products including their use as feed submitted under Article 13 of Directive 2001/18/EC before the date of application of this Regulation shall be transformed into applications under Chapter III, Section 1 of this Regulation where the assessment report provided for in Article 14 of Directive 2001/18/EC has not yet been sent to the Commission.
4
Requests submitted for products referred to in Article 15(1)(c) of this Regulation under Article 7 of Directive 82/471/EEC before the date of application of this Regulation shall be transformed into applications under Chapter III, Section 1 of this Regulation.
5
Requests submitted for products referred to in Article 15(1) of this Regulation under Article 4 of Directive 70/524/EEC before the date of application of this Regulation shall be supplemented by applications under Chapter III, Section 1 of this Regulation.

Transitional measures for adventitious or technically unavoidable presence of genetically modified material which has benefited from a favourable risk evaluation
Article 47
1
The presence in food or feed of material which contains, consists of or is produced from GMOs in a proportion no higher than 0,5 % shall not be considered to be in breach of Article 4(2) or Article 16(2), provided that:
a
this presence is adventitious or technically unavoidable;
b
the genetically modified material has benefited from a favourable opinion from the Community Scientific Committee(s) or the Authority before the date of application of this Regulation;
c
the application for its authorisation has not been rejected in accordance with the relevant Community legislation; and
d
detection methods are publicly available.
2
In order to establish that the presence of this material is adventitious or technically unavoidable, operators must be in a position to demonstrate to the competent authorities that they have taken appropriate steps to avoid the presence of such materials.
3
Measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it and lowering the thresholds referred to in paragraph 1, in particular for GMOs sold directly to the final consumer, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 35(3).
4
Detailed rules for implementing this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 35(2).
5
This Article shall remain applicable for a period of three years after the date of application of this Regulation.

Review
Article 48
1
No later than 7 November 2005 and in the light of experience gained, the Commission shall forward to the European Parliament and to the Council a report on the implementation of this Regulation and in particular of Article 47, accompanied, where appropriate, by any suitable proposal. The report and any proposal shall be made accessible to the public.
2
Without prejudice to the powers of national authorities, the Commission shall monitor the application of this Regulation and its impact on human and animal health, consumer protection, consumer information and the functioning of the internal market and, if necessary, will bring forward proposals at the earliest possible date.

Entry into force
Article 49
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from six months after the date of publication of this Regulation.
OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1.
OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1.
OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1.
OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1.
OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1.
OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1.
OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1.
OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1.
Substituted by Regulation (EC) No 298/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 on genetically modified food and feed, as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission.
Art. 35 substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 37 (as amended by The Food and Feed Hygiene and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1504), regs. 1(2), 17(7)); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Words in Art. 30(2) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 34(a); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 30(4) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 34(b); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 30(6) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 34(c); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 30(7) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 34(d); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Word in Art. 28 heading omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 32(a); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Word in Art. 28(1) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 32(a); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Words in Art. 28(1) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 32(b); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 29(2) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 33; 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 29(3) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 33; 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 32 substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 35 (as amended by The Food and Feed Hygiene and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1504), regs. 1(2), 17(4)); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Words in Art. 34 inserted (31.12.2020) by S.I. 2019/705, reg. 36(a) (as inserted by The Food and Feed Hygiene and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1504), regs. 1(2), 17(6))
Words in Art. 34 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of S.I. 2019/705, reg. 36(b) (as inserted by The Food and Feed Hygiene and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1504), regs. 1(2), 17(6))
Art. 27 substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 31; 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 33 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of S.I. 2019/705, reg. 36 (as substituted by The Food and Feed Hygiene and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1504), regs. 1(2), 17(5))
Art. 36 substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 38; 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Words in Art. 44 substituted (31.12.2020) by The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), reg. 38A (as inserted by S.I. 2020/1504, regs. 1(2), 17(8))
Art. 45 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/705), regs. 1, 39; 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Words in Art. 28(1) omitted (1.4.2025) by virtue of The Food and Feed (Regulated Products) (Amendment, Revocation, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/361), regs. 1(2), 14(13)(a)(i) (with reg. 23)
Words in Art. 28(1) substituted (1.4.2025) by The Food and Feed (Regulated Products) (Amendment, Revocation, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/361), regs. 1(2), 14(13)(a)(ii) (with reg. 23)
Art. 28(2) substituted (1.4.2025) by The Food and Feed (Regulated Products) (Amendment, Revocation, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/361), regs. 1(2), 14(13)(b) (with reg. 23)
Word in Art. 44(1) omitted (1.4.2025) by virtue of The Food and Feed (Regulated Products) (Amendment, Revocation, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/361), regs. 1(2), 14(14) (with reg. 23)