Parltrack

Activites

• 2006/03/17 Additional information
• 2001/12/11 Document attached to the procedure
  • COM(2001)0749 summary

    On 14 July 2000, the Commission adopted a package of 5 proposals that constitute a recast of existing Community legislation on food hygiene and veterinary legislation that is contained in 127 Directives. One of these proposals deals in particular with the official controls that must be carried out on food of animal origin. To recall, these proposals are: - a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffs (COD/2000/0178); - a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (COD/2000/0179); - a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down detailed rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption (COD/2000/0180); - a proposal for a Council Regulation laying down the animal health rules govering the production, placing on the market and importation of products of animal origin intended for human consumption (COD/2000/0181); - a proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing certain Directives on the hygiene of foodstuffs and the health condition for the production and placing on the market of certain products of animal origin intended for human consumption, and amending Directives 89/662/EEC and 91/67/EEC (COD/2000/0182). These proposals are at present under discussion in the European Parliament and in the Council in accordance with the procedures laid down for that purpose. Since the time these proposals were made new developments have taken place and in particular: - new scientific advice has become available in particular on issues that relate to meat safety. This information allows for meat inspection to be organised on a basis that it takes account of hazards that threaten human health today thus making it more science-based and risk-based. It also allows to integrate in a more efficient way the stable-to-table approach, an element that is believed to be of great importance with regard to meat safety; - the Commission is preparing, as announced in the White Paper on Food Safety, a proposal for a Regulation laying down in a horizontal way for all feed and food, the principles that must be the basis for official feed and food controls. These principles will also be applicable to the organisation of meat inspection. These developments require that the Commission's proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament of the Council laying down detailed rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption (COD/2000/0180) be revised in a fundamental way. Under these circumstances, the Commission believes that in order to ensure that future discussions on official controls and in particular on meat inspection be based on the most recent scientific advice, the proposal contained in COD/2000/0180 must be withdrawn. The withdrawal will also ensure that the procedure in the European Parliament and the Council on hygiene package continues in the most effective and transparent way so as to allow the necessary progress in the decision making process. The Commission herewith informs the European Parliament and theCouncil that it has decided to withdraw the proposal. It will be replaced at a later date by a new proposal. The Commission services are in the process of preparing such a proposal. It is foreseen that it can be submitted within a time period of six months. It will replace document COD/2000/0180 in its entirety.

  • DG Health and Consumers,
• #2348
• 2001/05/22 Council Meeting
• #2289
• 2000/09/28 Council Meeting
• 2000/09/04 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • AGRI AUROI Danielle V/ALE
  • ENVI ENVI/5/12983 SCHNELLHARDT Horst PPE-DE
  • ITRE LUCAS Caroline V/ALE
  • PECH GALLAGHER Pat the Cope UEN
• 2000/07/14 Legislative proposal
  • COM(2000)0438 summary

    PURPOSE : to present a proposal for a Regulation laying down detailed rules for the organisation of official controls on products on products of animal origin intended for human consumption. CONTENT : the present proposal results from a recast of Community legislation on food hygiene as contained in Council Directive 93/43/EEC on the hygiene of foodstuffs and in a number of Council Directives on public health problems and governing the production and placing on the market of products of animal origin, animal health aspects related to the placing on the market of products of animal origin, as contained in a number of Council Directives that partially overlap with the food hygiene Directives, official controls on products of animal origin contained in the above product-specific Directives. Requirements for official controls are already laid down for different sectors such as veterinary public health, animal health, food stuffs and animal feed. This sectorial approach has lead to a situation whereby requirements of a similar nature are covered in a different way for the different sectors concerned, or that certain aspects are not covered for a particular sector, thus leaving loopholes in legislation. By way of response to this situation a proposal will be established that lays down the general control principles that must be observed in ensuring that food and feed legislation is complied with. This proposal will cover all aspects related to the official controls for the safety of both feed and foodstuffs and in particular the responsibilities of the official services in the Member States, the action to be taken in the case of risk to the consumer, the training of control officials, the application of contingency plans, controls on imported products, inspections by the Commission, safeguard measures, etc. Although a number of general control requirements can be laid down for all food, it must not be lost of sight that the specificity of certain products requires the setting of specific control requirements. This is in particular the case for products of animal origin, which present hazards that are very specific to the type of commodity. Existing detailed inspection procedures such as ante- and post-mortem inspections on meat are of a very technical nature. Some of these procedures have been implemented for over 30 years without major changes. Although they have proven their effectiveness for controlling diseases such as tuberculosis and glanders, intensive discussions are taking palce to review these traditional inspection procedures so as to address hazards that are linked to the modern methods of food production. These discussions are concentrating in particular on the prevention by modern inspection procedures of food-borne infections such as the ones caused by Salmonella sp., E.coli, Listeria, Campylobacter etc, and on the development of a risk based system for controlling other hazards. In order to enable the Commission to react promptly when these discussions arrive at appropriate results, a separate proposal has been drawn up under which all the detailed inspection procedures are described. While awaiting the result of thescientific assessment, it is proposed that the present rules continue to apply. With regard to the future, when the present proposals are adopted, the Union will have specific food hygiene legislation which ensures a very high standard with regard to public health protection. It will contain a number of important general requirements, some of which will be new for operators and for the monitoring authorities. A follow-up of the implementation of these requirements should be ensured. Also the development of codes to good hygiene practises constitutes an important element in the evolution of food safety. It is therefore proposed that the Commission should closely follow this evolution and make a report on the implementation of the self-checking regimes run by operators, on the establishment of codes to good hygiene practises and on the experience in the Member States with inspections and audits for monitoring the correct implementation of these regimes.

  • DG Health and Consumers,

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2000)0438
• Document attached to the procedure: COM(2001)0749

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)