EC LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR FOOD AND FEED TRACEABILITY

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1 EC LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR FOOD AND FEED TRACEABILITY Administrator: General Food Law Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General Food Law and Biotechnology

2 GENERAL FOOD LAW REGULATION EC/178/2002 Came into force 21 February 2002 Establishes European Food Safety Authority Lays down general principles/requirements of Food law Streamlines food safety procedures

3 TRACEABILITY: a general requirement of food law THE DEFINITION (covers all food/feed and the entire food and feed chain) The ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected to be incorporated into a food or feed, through all stages of production, processing and distribution Stages of production, Processing and Distribution means any stage, including import, from and including the primary production of a food, up to and including its storage, transport, sale or supply to the final consumer and, where relevant, the importation, production, manufacture, storage, transport, distribution, sale and supply of feed

4 TRACEABILITY : OBJECTIVES AND REQUIREMENT (article 18) Objectives: to facilitate targeted individual withdrawals and/or to provide appropriate information to consumers or control officials NOT A FOOD SAFETY MEASURE PER SE BUT A RISK MANAGEMENT TOOL Requirements (from 1 January 2005): food and feed business operators shall be able to identify from whom and to whom a product has been supplied and to have systems and procedures in place that allows for this information to be made available to the authorities More detailed requirements by sector-specific legislation, as appropriate

5 BEEF TRACEABILITY REG. EC/1760/2000 Objective: to establish a link between the carcass, quarter or piece of meat and individual or group of animals: for food safety purposes for origin labelling purposes

6 BEEF TRACEABILITY REQUIREMENTS National centralized and computerised databases: registration of all movements of living animals Individual identification: ear tags / electronic identification Animal individual passports Registers for holdings

7 BEEF TRACEABILITY: Specific Information Reference number or code Approval number of slaughterhouse Approval number of cutting hall and Member State where the cutting hall is established Country of birth Country where slaughter took place All countries where fattening took place

8 SPECIFIC TRACEABILITY IN TERMS OF HYGIENE RULES FOR FOOD OF ANIMAL ORIGIN Commission Proposal on hygiene rules for food of animal origin. Requirements: A health mark (by veterinary authorities) An identification mark (by companies) Objective: safety, facilitate control Means: applied directly to the product, the wrapping or packaging, or printed on a label affixed to the product/or an non-removable tag.

9 TRACEABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR FISH Commission Regulation (EC) N 2065/2001 Specific information requirements: Production method Catch area Objective: Consumer information Means Labelling, or Commercial documentation

10 IDENTIFICATION OF FOOD Council Directive 89/396/EEC Identification or marks identifying the lot to which a foodstuff belongs Objective: Useful source of information when foodstuffs are the subject of dispute or constitute a health hazard for consumers Means: for prepackaged food - on the label for non-prepackaged food - relevant commercial document

11 TRACEABILITY OF SMOKE FLAVOURINGS Commission Proposal COM (2002) 400 final Specific information requirements: the code of the authorised product the conditions of use of the authorised product in the case of a derived smoke flavouring, the quantitative relation to the primary product Objective: safety

12 CONCLUSIONS Traceability requirements: Very general to very specific. Objectives: Food safety (withdrawals, identification and containment of a problem, ensure essential information is transmitted) Facilitate controls Labelling (of origin, production area, catch area)

13 CONCLUSIONS Means: No particular specification Commercial documents Labels Marks Databases, ear tags, passports, registers

14 CURRENT CONCERNS AND NEXT STEPS Some Member States start to work on more detailed provisions for the implementation of the general requirement on traceability, in the form of legislation or guidelines. Commission to ensure that national requirements comply with the General Food law Regulation and do not constitute an obstacle to intra-community trade. A Workshop with Member States and Stakeholders in January. If necessary, Commission could clarify the scope and meaning of the general traceability requirements. Identification of priorities and need for technical co-operation and assistance with and to third countries