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General EU Food Law
The first rules on food safety date from the very
early days of the EU. The food safety crises of the
1990s showed it was time to replace what had become
a patchwork of rules with a simpler and more
comprehensive approach. The new approach also paid
closer attention to the risks from contaminated
feed. The result was a new piece of ‘umbrella’
legislation known as the General Food Law, to be
phased in between 2002 and 2005. This law not only
set out the principles applying to food safety. It
also:
• introduced the concept of ‘traceability’. In other
words, food and feed businesses – whether they are
producers, processors or importers – must make sure
that all foodstuffs, animal feed and feed
ingredients can be traced right through the food
chain, from farm to fork. Each business must be able
to identify its supplier and which businesses it
supplied. This is known as the ‘one-step-backward,
one-step-forward’ approach.
• set up the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
to bring under one roof the work previously done by
a range of scientific committees and to make the
scientific risk assessment process more public.
• reinforced the rapid alert system which the
European Commission and EU governments use to act
quickly in the event of a food and/or feed safety
scare.
Food law, both at national and EU level, establishes
the rights of consumers to safe food and to accurate
and honest information. The EU food law aims to
harmonise existing national requirements in order to
ensure the free movement of food and feed in the EU.
The food law recognises the EU's commitment to its
international obligations and will be developed and
adapted taking international standards into
consideration, except where this might undermine the
high level of consumer protection pursued by the EU.
General Food Law
The General Principles of Food Law (Articles 5 to
10) entered into force on 21 February 2002 and must
be followed when measures are taken. Existing food
law principles and procedures must be adapted by 1
January 2007 in order to comply with the general
framework established by Regulation EC/178/2002.
The food law aims at ensuring a high level of
protection of human life and health, taking into
account the protection of animal health and welfare,
plant health and the environment. This integrated
"farm to fork" approach is now considered a general
principle for EU food safety policy. The Regulation
establishes the basic principle that the primary
responsibility for ensuring compliance with food
law, and in particular the safety of the food, rests
with the food business. Similarly this principle is
applied to feed business. To complement and support
this principle, there must be adequate and effective
controls organised by the competent authorities of
the Member States.
The Regulation lays down five general principles
which now take precedence over the provisions of
other texts in this field:
The food chain as a whole must be
taken into consideration. It is vital that a high
level of food safety be ensured at all stages of the
food chain, from primary production through to the
consumer, in the interest of overall effectiveness.
• Risk analysis is a fundamental component of food
safety policy. Three separate procedures are
necessary: risk assessment based on scientific
evidence, risk management through the intervention
of public authorities and the provision of
information to the general public on any risks. If
the available scientific data are not sufficient to
evaluate the risk fully, application of the
precautionary principle , recognised for the first
time in food legislation, is desirable for the
purpose of ensuring a high level of protection.
• Responsibility now lies with all operators in the
food sector. All operators in the sector are
responsible for the safety of the products which
they import, produce, process, place on the market
or distribute. If a risk arises, the operator
concerned must take the necessary restrictive
measures without delay and inform the authorities
accordingly.
• Products must be traceable at all stages of the
food chain. Using appropriate systems for collecting
information, operators must be able to identify any
person or business supplying them with a foodstuff
or to whom they supply their products.
• Citizens are entitled to clear and accurate
information from the public authorities. They should
be consulted openly and transparently throughout the
decision-making process. This approach ties in with
the principles of EU consumer policy recognising
people's right to information, education and
representation.
Implementation
A guidance document on the implementation of the
General Food law main requirements has been
developed by a working group of Member State
experts. These requirements are traceability of food
and feed products, responsibility of operators,
withdrawal of unsafe food or feed from the market
and notification to the competent Authorities.
Their implementation from 1st January 2005 has given
rise to numerous questions in particular from E.U.
food chain operators and third country trading
partners. The guidance document aims to assist all
players in the food chain to better understand and
to apply correctly and in a uniform way the
Regulation.
New regime relating to Food Hygiene – Applicable
from January 2006 onwards
As part of the revision of legislation on the
hygiene of foodstuffs ("hygiene package"),
Regulation EC/852/2004 of 29th April 2004, focuses
on defining the food safety objectives to be
achieved, leaving the food operators responsible for
adopting the safety measures to be implemented in
order to guarantee food safety.
This Regulation seeks to ensure the hygiene of
foodstuffs at all stages of the production process,
from primary production up to and including sale to
the final consumer. It does not cover issues
relating to nutrition or to the composition or
quality of foodstuffs.
1. General and specific provisions
All food business operators shall ensure that all
stages for which they are responsible, from primary
production up to and including the offering for sale
or supply of foodstuffs to the final consumer, are
carried out in a hygienic way in accordance with
this Regulation.
Food business operators carrying out primary
production and certain associated activities shall
comply with the general hygiene provisions of part A
of Annex I. Derogations may be granted for small
businesses, provided that they do not compromise
achievement of the Regulation's objectives.
These associated activities are:
• the transport, handling and storage of primary
products at the place of production, where their
nature has not been substantially altered;
• the transport of live animals, where this is
necessary;
• transport, from the place of production to an
establishment, of products of plant origin, fishery
products and wild game, where their nature has not
been substantially altered.
In addition, food business operators carrying out
activities other than primary production shall
comply with the general hygiene provisions of Annex
II of the Regulation.
This Annex sets out the hygiene requirements for:
• food premises, including outside areas and sites;
• transport conditions;
• equipment;
• food waste;
• water supply;
• personal hygiene of persons in contact with food;
• food;
• wrapping and packaging;
• heat treatment, which may be used to process
certain foodstuffs;
• training of food workers.
2. The HACCP system
Food business operators (other than at the level of
primary production) shall apply the principles of
the system of hazard analysis and critical control
points (HACCP) introduced by the Codex Alimentarius
(code of international food standards drawn up by
the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organisation).
These principles prescribe a certain number of
requirements to be met throughout the cycle of
production, processing and distribution in order to
permit, via hazard analysis, identification of the
critical points which need to be kept under control
in order to guarantee food safety:
• identify any hazards that must be prevented,
eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels;
• identify the critical control points at the step
or steps at which control is essential;
• establish critical limits beyond which
intervention is necessary;
• establish and implement effective monitoring
procedures at critical control points;
• establish corrective actions when monitoring
indicates that a critical control point is not under
control;
• implement own-check procedures to verify whether
the measures adopted are working effectively;
• keep records to demonstrate the effective
application of these measures and to facilitate
official controls by the competent authority.
3. Registration or approval of food businesses
Food businesses operators shall cooperate with the
competent authorities and in particular ensure that
all establishments under their control are
registered with the appropriate authority and keep
this authority informed of any changes (e.g. closure
of the establishment).
Where required by national or Community legislation,
businesses in the food sector must be approved by
the competent authority and shall not operate
without such approval.
4. Traceability and withdrawal of food products
In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 ,
food business operators shall set up traceability
systems and procedures for ingredients, foodstuffs
and, where appropriate, animals used for food
production.
Similarly, where a food business operator identifies
that a foodstuff presents a serious risk to health
it shall immediately withdraw that foodstuff from
the market and inform users and the competent
authority.
5. Official controls
The application of HACCP principles by food business
operators shall not replace the official controls
carried out by the competent authority. Operators
are required to collaborate with the competent
authorities in accordance with Community legislation
or, where none exists, national legislation.
6. External dimension
Foodstuffs imported into the Community shall comply
with the Community hygiene standards or with
equivalent standards.
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