EHPM and SMEunited highlighted to Commissioner Kyriakides and the Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis the difficulties companies in the food supplements sector are facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic and urged the Commission to "stop the clock" of consultations involving stakeholders.

EHPM and SMEunited made it clear that, in the face of the devastating impacts of Covid-19 pandemic, food supplements producers’ priorities are twofold: on one hand, they are protecting their workers and making sure that all the necessary measures are in place to guarantee their safety against the virus; on the other, they are fully committed to fulfil their core mission: to continuously satisfy consumers’ demand for safe health products.

EHPM and SMEunited pointed out that keeping up with the production is extremely difficult for economic operators due to the significant disruptions on the supply chain and to the limitations of physical work presence in the factories. Thus, most companies are implementing business continuity plans in order to survive. In this respect, EHPM highlights the critical importance of preserving the Single Market to secure a stable and safe food supply chain and also helping European SMEs to maintain their important contribution to the social-economical model of the EU. Also, given the dependence of European companies on global supply, it is extremely important to maintain the cross-border supply chains.

Therefore, given the urgent priorities companies have to address and the scarcity of recourses already fully engaged in dealing with the economic consequences of this unprecedented crisis, it is critical to "stop the clock" of the public consultations as well as of other measures that would imply the active involvement of stakeholders.

In its short response, the European Commission glossed over the request to “stop the clock” for all public consultations and confirmed the three-week deadline postponement for the public consultation on the draft regulation on Hydroxyanthracene derivatives (HADs), until 22 April 2020.

EHPM calls upon organisations, stakeholders to join in the request to the European Commission to pause the ongoing and to postpone the launch of new consultations for the time needed to companies to cope with such an exceptional force majeure. 

Attachments:

The joint letter is available here

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