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General Food Law of the EU – Amman, 29 November 2010Wolf Maier, DG Health and Consumers, EU Commission

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The EU MarketThe EU is a Success Story

Single Market with 500 Million citizens,

Economic stability, 70% of trade intra-EU,

Harmonisation of rules and standards;

The EU is a nightmare27 countries, 21 Languages,

Diverse traditions expectations and economies,

100.000s food businesses,

By far the biggest importer and exporter of food worldwide;

Risks must be managed.

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How does it work? The main elements

Commitment to high level of protection;

Objective-oriented, non-prescriptive law(we will discuss specific elements);

Clear allocation of responsibility;

Continuous scrutiny, inspection and controls;

Transparency, peer pressure;

Independent scientific advice;

Dispute settlement mechanisms

Training (we speak about this separately).

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Essentially ...

… we have two key commitments:

High level of protection

Transparency

… and we have two key pieces of legislation:

General Food Law Regulation 178/2002

Principles of Official Controls Reg. 882/2004

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General Food Law (Reg 178/2002)Article 1 – Broad scopeApplies to all stages of production, processing and distribution of food and feed (except primary production).

Article 5 – High level of protectionFood law shall pursue a high level of protection of human life and health and the protection of consumers' interests.

Articles 9/10 – TransparencyPublic consultation, public information.

Article 14 / 15 – Objectives, not measuresUnsafe food and feed must not be placed on the market.

Article 17 – Responsibility and liability Operators are responsible for safety and are liable for the products under their control. Penalties must be dissuasive.

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General Food Law (Reg 178/2002)Article 18 – Traceability All food, feed and animals: One step up, one step down.

Article 20 – RecallOperators must recall if they have ‘reason to believe’ that products are unsafe. Recalls must be reported to authorities.

Article 11 - ImportsFood and feed imported into the Community complies with food law or conditions recognised as equivalent.

Article 12 - ExportsFood and feed exported shall comply with the food law.

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Principles of food and Feed Controls

Regulation 882/2004Coherent rules for all authorities:

Adequate staff, resource, training.

Accredited labs, international standards.

Risk-based controls in all sectors

based on multi-annual control plans.

annual reports.

peer review through COM and MS.

delegation of official inspection is possible.

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The Food and Veterinary Office (Art 45 Reg. 882)

Around 300 staff, 150 inspectors;

200 audits per year, 160 in Member States;

Audit of national inspection services;

Audit of third country inspection systems – verification of certification process. NO direct relationship with individual businesses;

All reports published, MS and non-MS alike;

Follow-up through Standing Committe.

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The Rapid Alert System (Art. 50 Reg.178/2002)

Real-time information system managed by DG SANCO;

Member State Authorities and Border Posts on-line;

Market surveillance and import controls;

Alert Notifications trigger immediate action, such as recall verification;

Planning tool for risk-based inspections;

Weekly Reports published – private sector reacts.

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The Standing Committee for the Food ChainChaired by the Commission (Art 58 Reg 178)

• Risk management body with all MSs represented;

• Several Sections - animal health, public health, plants, animal welfare;

• Flexible schedule, rapid procedures;

• Harmonisation of implementing rules, integrity of the single market;

• Safeguard measures, dispute settlement;

• Decision making by qualified majority.

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European Food Safety Authority

Provides scientific advice (Art. 22 Reg. 178/2002)

Independent agency, not part of the Commission

Eight Scientific Panels for risk assessment

Obligatory consultation for authorisations of GMOs, pesticides, additives etc.

Identification of emerging risks

Transparency, Public Participation

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Summary: The EU food law in principle

Public scrutiny is driving constant innovation

All businesses

Liability. Risk-based self-controls

Traceability, Reporting of incidents.

All Member States:

Risk-based inspection and controls.

Control plans and annual reports.

Commission

Audit and verification,

Harmonisation and dispute settlement.

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The EU market is NOT built on trust

Trust is a result of

Harmonised legislation;

Permanent controls and audits;

Transparency and peer pressure;

Robust dispute settlement mechanisms;

Efficient crisis management.

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Documentation on the web

General Information:http://ec.europa.eu/food/index_en.htm

Food and Veterinary Office:http://ec.europa.eu/food/fvo/index_en.html

European Food Safety Authorityhttp://efsa.europa.eu

And please feel free to contact:wolf-martin.maier@ec.europa.eu