Impacts of ongoing legislative changes on seafood labelling

Transcription

1 Industry Guidance Note Legislation November 2011 Impacts of ongoing legislative changes on seafood labelling There are currently changes being introduced, and proposed, that will impact on seafood labelling requirements throughout the food chain. The supply chain may well be confused by the raft of new legislation surrounding seafood labelling that is in the pipeline, what impact each will have, and most importantly, how they all fit together. There are currently changes being introduced and proposed that will impact on seafood labelling requirements throughout the food chain. Whilst at first glance these numerous seafood labelling legislation developments may appear to be duplicating their requirements, closer inspection shows that each will impact in slightly different ways - applying to different categories or stages in the supply chain. As the Regulations have been introduced to achieve different aims they have been included under various legal regimes: namely hygiene, marketing and consumer information, and as a result they use different definitions. This document aims to explain: the different Regulations; their scope, and when they come into force; Scope This guidance note covers: Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November Applicable from 01/01/2012 or 01/01/2015. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 of 8 April Applicable from 01/01/2011. Amendment to Regulation 853/2004. Applicable from 01/11/2011. Food Information Regulation (FIR). Applicable from 21/11/2013. Proposed Regulation on Common Organisation of the Markets (CMO) in fishery and aquaculture products. Applicable from January This guide is not intended to be a guide to the requirements of the law, but an outline of the current position. This is an evolving document and updates will be added as the Regulations develop. their requirements, and how industry will be expected to comply; how the Regulations join together.

2 2 FS 68 11/11. November Impacts of ongoing legislative changes on seafood labelling. COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy Control Regulation. Article 58 traceability and Article 64 content of sales notes Applicable from: Scope: 01/01/13 quota species and 01/01/15 - non-quota species. Fishery and aquaculture products. Supply chain labelling requires: Lot identification; identification number of aquaculture unit or fishing vessel; FAO alpha-3 code of each species; date of catch or production; quantity; name and address of supplier; commercial designation; scientific name; geographical area and production method; whether previously frozen. Consumer labelling requires: Commercial designation; scientific name; geographical area and production method; whether previously frozen. 1224/2009 applies to all fisheries and aquaculture products. The required information must be available throughout the supply chain, although products subject to IUU are exempt from the supply chain requirement, but will be required to be labelled with commercial designation, production method and area, and a declaration of previously frozen. Lots can be formed from different consignments of fish, but traceability back to production identification unit must be maintained. With the exception of the requirement for a lot number and whether previously frozen, this information is already required under Article 64 of 1224/2009, and enforced by the Buyers and Sellers Regulation. This regulation only applies at first sale of fish. The introduction of Article 58 will require the information to be available through the food chain. Fish subject to IUU are exempt, except for the consumer labelling provisions. However the current buyers and sellers regulation only requires this information at first sale, and it does not need to be available throughout the food chain. The information will be held electronically, so a way of ensuring the fish remain identifiable back to the original lot is needed. The information required in the sales notes will largely satisfy the requirements of Article 58 for traceability. Lot numbers, and information on whether the fish has been defrosted, are not required in sales notes, as they would not be relevant until the next stage in the chain. The information that must be included in the sales note, and accompany the fish throughout the food chain will be needed to comply with labelling regulations that apply throughout the food chain. This Regulation ensures that this information will be available when required. The consumer labelling requirements are also seen in the Fish Labelling Regulations, and the proposed CMO.

3 3 FS 68 11/11. November Impacts of ongoing legislative changes on seafood labelling. COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 404/2011of 8 April 2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. Article 68 information to the consumer. Applicable from: 1/01/11. Scope: Supply chain labelling requires: CN03 products. No requirements. Consumer labelling requires: Commercial designation; scientific name; production method; catch area; defrosted if previously frozen. This requirement applies to products falling within customs code CN03. These are products that have no other intrinsic ingredients except salt, although cooked and peeled crustaceans are not CN03. This requirement only applies at retail. This is very similar in scope to the current Fish Labelling requirements, but does require the addition of the scientific name, which is currently only required on documentation up to the final consumer. It also includes an additional requirement for a declaration of defrosted. The scientific name can be provided to consumers by means of bill boards or posters and possibly by simply having the commercial names list from the Fish Labelling Regulations available. These discussions are ongoing with competent authorities. Defrosted will not have to be declared where previously frozen as required by hygiene legislation (parasite control), or where the product has been defrosted prior further processing e.g. salting, cooking, smoking. If frozen after processing, defrosted would need to be declared. Under the current regime fish must be labelled as previously frozen but the term may have been previously frozen can be used where there is variable supply. The legal requirement is not strictly about frozen/defrosted but about misleading the consumer by not indicating where food has been treated. This has allowed more flexibility in how this is applied. This regulation states that the word defrosted shall be indicated where it has been frozen, and the omission of this indicates it has not been frozen. This may leave less room for flexibility in labelling. Defrosted is also seen in the FIR (this applies at consumer level as does 404/2011), but the product scope varies. The FIR applies to all pre-packed foods and 404/2011 to CN03 only. The FIR contains exclusions (where there is no risk to safety or quality) but it is not yet clear if this will apply to fish products. For CN03 products, which will make up the majority of such products, it will be of no consequence as they will fall within the requirements of 404/2011. Only cooked and peeled crustaceans, and some lightly processed fish being CN16, may be able to use any exemption.

4 4 FS 68 11/11. November Impacts of ongoing legislative changes on seafood labelling. Amendment to Regulation 853/2004. SANCO/1489/2007 REV 17 Applicable from: 1/11/2011. Scope: All frozen fishery products as defined by 853/2004. Supply chain labelling requires: Date of capture/harvesting; date of production/freezing if different from that of capture/harvesting. Consumer labelling requires: Not required on consumer labels. This requirement applies to all products within the scope of Regulation 853/2004. This is all fishery products requiring approval, but will exclude products produced on a retail premises for direct sale, small quantities sold locally to the final consumer, and primary production. Under Regulation 853/2004 primary production includes gutting, filleting and wrapping, but not freezing. The date of capture and date of freezing if different must be accompany a fishery product. Where there is a mixed batch, the earliest date in the batch can be used. The method of making this information available is not prescribed so could be via trade documents. This was introduced as some food fraud highlighted a lack of traceability in cold stores. As this was a traceability issue, the information needs to be available B2B, but not to the consumer. This avoids the problem of the consumer becoming confused with multiple dates, or using these dates for product selection. Date of catch is also required under the proposed CMO. In this Regulation date of catch is intended to support traceability, and allay sustainability concerns. This would make the information available to the consumer, but because the CMO originates from Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and so uses customs codes to categorise fish products, the scope is slightly different from other consumer labelling requirements. This requirement applies to CN03, although this covers largely unprocessed products it includes frozen products. Date of first freezing is also seen in the Food Information Regulation where it applies at consumer level on pre-packed unprocessed products. Here the definition of unprocessed is taken from the Hygiene Regulations, which defines unprocessed as where the product is not substantially altered. It does include freezing and deep freezing, so is more in line with customs codes. So here the requirements for B2B labelling and consumer labelling will align. Cooked and peeled prawns would not need to have a date of freezing under either requirement as they are CN16 and outside of the CMO, but as they are cooked i.e. processed, they will also be outside of the FIR requirement to declare the date of freezing.

5 5 FS 68 11/11. November Impacts of ongoing legislative changes on seafood labelling. Food Information Regulation (main changes for seafood industry only) Applicable from: Scope: Supply chain labelling requires: 21/11/2013 (current estimate). Pre packaged foods intended for final consumer. Only applicable if pre packed supply to caterers. Consumer labelling requires: Date of freezing of unprocessed products; name of food to indicate defrosted; name of food to include any added proteins and their species origin; where a fish product has the appearance of a whole piece but is actually made up of several pieces shall bear the indication of formed; added water above 5% must be declared; however unprocessed fishery products and unprocessed bivalves are excluded. Date of freezing or first freezing must be given somewhere on the pack as dd/mm/yy in uncoded form, as with current durability indications. This only applies to unprocessed products. This uses the definition of unprocessed from the hygiene regulations. Unprocessed is where the product is not substantially altered. e.g. cleaning, cutting, mincing, freezing, deep freezing and thawing. Defrosted is required in the name of the food, although exemptions are given for ingredients in a compound food, where technically necessary (this is wider than for hygiene reasons), and where it has no impact on quality or safety of the food. Under the current regime an indication that the product had been frozen would be necessary if its omission may mislead the consumer; this is repeated in the new regulation. The requirement to indicate the presence of foreign proteins in the name of the food is not a new requirement, although now the species source must now be named. Where pieces of fish are used to make up a product giving the appearance of a whole piece, it must now indicate formed in the name of the food. Where added water must be declared, this is the case under the current regime but now unprocessed fishery products and bivalves are excluded. Where date of freezing must be indicated there is no allowance made for mixed batches as seen in the hygiene amendment. It would be easier to comply with this requirement if the earliest date in a batch could be used. Date of freezing could also be required where a product is sold defrosted. This may be confusing if the defrosted exemption applies but the date is still required. This is a possibility with cooked peeled prawns sold defrosted. There is an exemption from the requirement for defrosted to be included in the name of the food if there is no risk to safety or quality.

6 6 FS 68 11/11. November Impacts of ongoing legislative changes on seafood labelling. Declaration of added proteins in the name of the food is now specifically applied to fishery products. Whether this is a problem depends on the interpretation of fishery products. If the definition under hygiene regulations is applied this will have a very limited scope, however if a wider definition is applied to cover all products with x amount of fish, then this could cause problems for compound foods that would use proteins for technical reasons. These should be declared in the ingredients but not in the name of the food. Where products must indicate formed. This is currently the case to prevent a label being seen as misleading. However there needs to a range of terms to describe the range of fish products available. The added water rules are very unclear as to their interpretation. It is unclear if it only applies to water added as an ingredient, and does this include water pick up during processing, If it does not include this water how will this be enforced to determine why the water is present. Date of first freezing is also required under the hygiene amendment. The hygiene requirement applies up to the point of consumer labelling, where the FIR takes over. However the hygiene rules apply to all products requiring approval, and the FIR only to pre packed unprocessed seafood. As all frozen fish products would require approval the information will be available for these products to be used on consumer pack labels if necessary. A defrosted declaration is also required under 404/201. It is applicable to consumer labelling, as it is a requirement under FIR. However 404/2011 applies to CN03 only, but in all forms of presentation to the consumer, while FIR applies to all pre packed, although there is the possibility of an exemption where there is no risk to safety or quality. It would also need to be in the name of the food, whereas 404/2011 just requires a declaration on pack. Defrosted is also required in the proposed CMO that will replace 1224/2009 which 404/2011 implements. There is currently no replacement for 404/2011 proposed, so there will be an opportunity to align the replacement regulation with FIR.

7 7 FS 68 11/11. November Impacts of ongoing legislative changes on seafood labelling. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Common Organisation of the Markets in fishery and aquaculture products. COM (2011) 416 final. Applicable: Scope: Supply chain labelling requires: January 2013 (current estimate). CN03, CN16.04, CN No requirements. Consumer labelling requires: For CN03, CN16.04 and CN16.05 common name; production method; area of production of capture. CN03 only additionally require whether fresh or defrosted and date of catch. This replaces the current CMO, and it s implementing regulations. The Fish Labelling Regulations will change as the scope of existing requirements will extend to CN16.04 and CN16.05 products (these are processed products such as breaded fish, but not composite products containing less than X% fish). Products currently falling within the scope of the Fish Labelling Requirements will have to give additional information on whether fish has been defrosted, if this is not declared it is deemed to be fresh. The date of catch must also be given. CN16.04 and CN16.05 products will now be subject to the existing Fish Labelling requirements of commercial designation, production method and catch or production area. This is in the early stages of development so the final version is likely to be different and should be aligned with other requirements wherever possible. The date of catch is also required by the amendments to the hygiene regulation, which applies to all products requiring approval up until the point of consumer labelling, when this regulation would take over. There is also slight difference in product scope as 853/2004 relates to hygiene and uses that definition of processed, whereas CMO uses customs codes. The requirement to declare defrosted is also required by 404/2011, but that will be amended to implement this Regulation. The defrosted declaration is also required under regulation FIR. However as with 404/2011 this applies to CN03 only, but in all forms of presentation to the consumer, while FIR applies to all pre packed, although there is the possibility of an exemption where there is no risk to safety or quality. It would also need to be in the name of the food, whereas 404/2011 just requires a declaration on pack. As the implementing measure to replace 404/2011 has not been drafted there is an opportunity to align with FIR.

8 8 FS68. 11/11. November Impacts of ongoing legislative changes on seafood labelling. Legislation Key 1224/ COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. Control Regulation /2011 Regulation 404/2011 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 404/2011of 8 April 2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. Hygiene Amendment Sanco/1489/2007 REV Food Information Regulation //EP//NONSGML+AMD+A DOC+PDF+V0//EN Proposed CMO - Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Common Organisation of the Markets in fishery and aquaculture products. Fish Labelling Regulations - For further information contact: Fiona Wright, Seafish Legislation Department T: E: f_wright@seafish.co.uk Seafish legislation advice Origin Way, Europarc, Grimsby, N E Lincs DN37 9TZ t: f: e: seafish@seafish.co.uk w: supporting the seafood industry for a sustainable, profitable future