European Member States Expert Group Discusses Upcoming MOH Regulations

Last week, the European Member States Expert Group discussed upcoming mineral oil hydrocarbon (MOH) regulations. Pending confirmation, GOED would like to inform members about what was discussed and decided.

First, Member States did not reach an agreement on the text of the proposed European Commission regulation for MOH in the European Union (EU). The text will not be on the agenda for the next Expert Group session in February 2025, and at least one additional discussion round is expected (dates are yet to be scheduled).

What was decided was that the enforcement date has been postponed to January 1, 2027.

Regarding maximum limits (ML) on MOAH, the Commission is still working on the following option (referred to as Option 3). Note that this has not changed since the draft (referenced above) was released earlier this year.

* to be postponed to 01/01/2027

GOED is currently seeking confirmation on the discussions that were held about marine oils and food supplements. Also to be confirmed is the ML of 2 mg/kg for blends of oils of different origins.

Importantly, the meeting did lead to a decision that MOAH thresholds will apply to crude oils intended for refining (but not to what are called “intermediary products”). GOED will seek further information about what this means in practice for the importation of crude fish oil batches intended to be refined in the EU.

Regarding MOSH, no definitive position was found by the Expert Group and remains a point of discussion. It appears that the Indicative limit of 15 mg/kg (total MOSH) would remain.

Finally, a new stakeholder consultation will take place after the Member States agree on a final draft. GOED recommends that members participate in this consultation, if possible, through their national representatives or any European trade associations of which they are a member.

It is also worth mentioning that the European consumer organization FoodWatch recently published a press release contesting the discussed limit values. FoodWatch’s influence was one of the factors that kickstarted the original discussions about the need for setting regulations for mineral oil contamination of food in Europe. It is currently unclear to what extent the organization’s opinion will influence the current Member States’ discussions.

GOED last reported on the EU MOH proposed limits in the July 8, 2024 GOED Current and the MOH Resources webpage in the October 21 issue. For any questions, please reach out to Gerard Bannenberg or Harry Rice.