Evaluation of Application for renewal of Authorisation of urea as a feed additive for ruminants in the EU

On 22 February 2023, the European Union Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued a news release, the European Union Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued an assessment of the application for renewal of the authorization of urea as a feed additive for ruminants.

After an assessment, the panel was unable to reach a conclusion about the additive's safety for users without new data. The panel considered that the previous conclusions on efficacy remained valid. Some of the original reports are as follows:

Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the assessment of the application for the renewal of the authorisation of urea as nutritional feed additive. The additive is authorised for use in ruminants with functional rumen (3d1). The applicant provided evidence that the additive currently in the market complies with the existing conditions of authorisation and the production process has not been substantially modified. The FEEDAP Panel considers that there is no evidence to revise the conclusions reached in the previous assessment for the target species, consumer and for the environment when used as a source of non-protein nitrogen under current conditions of use, in ruminants with functional rumen. In the absence of new data, the FEEDAP Panel is not in the position to conclude on the user safety. The Panel retains that previously made conclusion on the efficacy remains valid.