The Biocontrol Coalition supports the innovation-friendly definition proposed by the European Commission

February 2026

On 16 December 2025, the European Commission proposed the Omnibus X simplification package on Food and Feed Safety. As outlined in more detail in other Biocontrol Coalition documents, we support the various proposals from the European Commission to amend Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 to streamline the process for placing biocontrol products on the market and to better align the regulatory framework with the nature of biocontrol product.

We want to emphasise the importance of the innovation-friendly definition of biocontrol that is proposed by the Commission and to offer comments on further improving it.

1. It is good that the definition focuses on “biocontrol substances.” However, it needs to make explicit that such substances are found in products providing plant protection functions as defined in Article 2 of Regulation 1107/2009.
2. In addition to the definition provided by the Commission, it is important to note that biocontrol substances decompose in the environment in well-established and predictable manners or are environmentally inert (e.g. kaolin clay may not degrade per se). This could be achieved by combining the concepts of “functionally identical” and same environmental fate under an umbrella term such as “identical in behavior”.
3. The classification of a substance or product as biocontrol for regulatory purposes does not remove, reduce or replace any requirement for risk assessment. On the contrary, it determines the regulatory pathway under which the substance or product will be assessed, ensuring that the evaluation is conducted using criteria and expertise appropriate to its nature and mode of action.
4. The definition of a substance or product as being a biocontrol product for regulatory purposes does not mean it is approved for organic agriculture. Being categorised as a biocontrol product does not automatically qualify a product for organic agriculture, and it should not as these two regulations evolve independently of one another and have different purposes. Furthermore, Regulation 1107/2009 has a wider scope: the substances it defines as biocontrol could also be used in conventional agriculture.

Defining biocontrol products is a first necessary step in systemic change that is needed to augment farmer choice and to increase access to tools that will allow EU farmers to farm sustainably and profitably.

Read our full PDF position on the definition of biocontrol substances proposed in the Food & Feed Safety Omnibus.