EU Adopts Rules to Mitigate Risks of Fraud and Strengthen Health & Safety

16 Mar 2017 --- European Parliament has adopted new regulations to increase member states' ability to prevent, eliminate or reduce health risks to humans, animals and plants with a modernized and simplified control system which ensures that EU food is safe all the way through the agri-food chain. The new rules, which were adopted yesterday (Mar 15), provide a package of measures that will strengthen the enforcement of health and safety standards across the agri-food chain, according to the European Commission. 

In a statement Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis says the regulation is: “part of the body of EU legislation covering the food chain package that cuts down almost 70 pieces of EU legislation to fives, reduces the red-tape on processes and procedures for farmers, breeders and food business operators (producers, processors and distributors) to make it easier for them to carry out their profession.”

“EU citizens will benefit from safer products and a more effective and more transparent system of controls along the chain. The package also provides simpler, science and risk-based rules, allowing more efficient processes for business. Finally, the national controllers are given the powers and tools to deliver their tasks more effectively,” he adds.

Harmonizing the EU rules will reduce the level of risk to people, animals and plants along the food chain, but it will be down to each member state to ensure and check that official controls are being correctly implemented. 

The new rules overhaul the current system. They will provide a single framework for all official controls along the agri-food chain. These are checks performed by EU countries to verify that businesses comply with agri-food chain rules. These rules cover the safety and quality of food and feed, plant health, animal health and welfare. They also apply to agri-food chain products entering the EU from third countries.

Businesses and authorities will benefit from reduced administrative burdens, more efficient processes and strengthened controls. Consumers will benefit from more transparency on how controls are carried out to ensure food safety and high standards for plant health, animal health and welfare and to prevent fraud.

The main changes involved the new rules extending the scope of the previous regulation, specifically to cover plant health and animal by-product rules. The Regulation provides more specific rules for several areas already covered, e.g. animal health and animal welfare. It also allows the Commission to adjust control requirements to the specific enforcement needs of each sector. One important example is the establishment of minimum control frequencies where the risks warrant it.

Operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution that handle animals, plants, food, feed, goods, substances, materials or equipment are governed by the new rules. Controls will be performed without prior notice, unless this is necessary.

With this risk-based approach the frequency of controls will be linked to risks that a product or process presents with respect to fraud, health, safety, animal welfare or in certain cases the environment. Other factors included in the assessment of the risk are, for example, the operator's past record of compliance or the likelihood that consumers are misled about the properties, quality, composition or country of provenance of the food.

“This new piece of legislation reaffirms the EU' leading position worldwide in the area of food safety. It also paves the way to establishment of the long-awaited reference centers for animal welfare,” adds Andriukaitis.

“We will now start to prepare the more specific rules which stem from the Regulation to ensure it can apply in practice. We also very much look forward to a constructive dialogue with the Member States, the Parliament and stakeholders in order to achieve a uniform approach on implementation.”

by Gaynor Selby