Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(9):393-399 | DOI: 10.17221/3/2016-AGRICECON

Legal and environmental aspects of authorizing edible insects in the European UnionOriginal Paper

Nicole GRMELOVA*,1, Tomas SEDMIDUBSKY2
1 Department of Business and European Laws, Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

Nutritional values of different foodstuffs have been examined in various studies on a number of occasions. However, so far, little attention has been paid to the legal aspects of introducing edible insects in the European Union. Yet, the rearing of this mini-livestock for food and feed has a potential of developing into a new agricultural sector, which is sustainable, unlike the breeding of the traditional livestock. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the legal background of authorizing edible insects in the European Union, taking into account the environmental impacts thereof. At present, the Member States are free to regulate this field, however, only until the transitional period established by the European Union (EU) rules has expired, since the EU wide regulation for authorizing edible insects is to be introduced as of 1st January 2018.

Keywords: environment, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), food safety, mini-livestock, Novel Food Regulation, regulatory framework

Published: September 30, 2017  Show citation

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GRMELOVA N, SEDMIDUBSKY T. Legal and environmental aspects of authorizing edible insects in the European Union. Agric. Econ. - Czech. 2017;63(9):393-399. doi: 10.17221/3/2016-AGRICECON.
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