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General Food Law of the EU – Amman, 29 November 2010

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

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General Food Law of the EU – Amman, 29 November 2010

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

  2. The EU Market The 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 nightmare 27 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.

  3. 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).

  4. 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

  5. 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 – Transparency Public consultation, public information. Article 14 / 15 – Objectives, not measures Unsafe 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.

  6. General Food Law (Reg 178/2002) Article 18 – Traceability All food, feed and animals: One step up, one step down. Article 20 – Recall Operators must recall if they have ‘reason to believe’ that products are unsafe. Recalls must be reported to authorities. Article 11 - Imports Food and feed imported into the Community complies with food law or conditions recognised as equivalent. Article 12 - Exports Food and feed exported shall comply with the food law.

  7. Principles of food and Feed Controls Regulation 882/2004 Coherent 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. The Standing Committee for the Food Chain Chaired 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.

  11. 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

  12. 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.

  13. 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. 13

  14. 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

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