13 Food hygiene: official controls on
products of animal origin intended for human consumption
(23671)
10987/02
COM(02) 377
| Draft Regulation laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption.
|
| Legal base | Article 152(4)(b); co-decision; qualified majority voting
|
| Department | Food Standards Agency
|
| Basis of consideration | SEM of 7 May 2003
|
| Previous Committee Report | HC 63-i (2002-03), paragraph 5 (20 November 2003)
|
| To be discussed in Council | June 2003
|
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Cleared
|
Background
13.1 In July 2000, the Commission proposed that the existing food
hygiene requirements — then set out in 17 different Directives
— should be recast.[30]
In the process, aspects of food hygiene were to be separated from
animal health and control issues, with the existing Directives
being repealed and replaced by four new Regulations, dealing separately
with:
- the hygiene of all foodstuffs;
- specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin;
- detailed rules for the organisation of official controls on
products of animal origin intended for human consumption;
- the animal health rules governing the production, placing
on the market and importation of products of animal origin intended
for human consumption.
13.2 The Commission subsequently produced in December 2001 a Communication,[31]
pointing out that, since it had made its original proposals, new
scientific evidence had become available, particularly on issues
relating to meat safety. As this required a fundamental revision
of the proposal on the official controls on products of animal
origin, it intended to withdraw that part of the proposal, and
to replace it at a later date by a new proposal.
13.3 It did this in the current document, the main effect of which
is to change the present supervisory role of officials on meat
hygiene controls to one of auditing the application by operators
of HACCP[32]-based programmes,
and to introduce inspection procedures which place more emphasis
on the health status of the animals to be slaughtered and which
limit unnecessary post-mortem procedures. In addition, the proposal
sets out the rules for the production of non-meat products. In
the case of milk and dairy products and fishery products, the
controls proposed would be similar to those at present, but, in
the case of live bivalve molluscs, testing for biotoxins would
have to be weekly, as compared with the fortnightly or monthly
tests currently carried out in the UK.
13.4 As we noted in our Report of 20 November 2002, the Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Public Health at the Department of
Health (Ms Hazel Blears) said that, although the proposal would
in many respects simply consolidate the current requirements,
the Commission was preparing a proposal for legislation laying
down the overarching principles governing official feed and food
controls. Since this would in turn have implications for any measures
adopted under the current document, it was relevant to the initial
Regulatory Impact Assessment which the Minister had provided,
and which she had said she would be updating as the negotiations
progressed. We therefore decided to await further developments
before taking a final view on this proposal.
Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum of 7 May 2003
13.5 We have now received a supplementary Explanatory Memorandum
of 7 May 2003 from the Minister, together with a partial Regulatory
Impact Assessment. She says that the impact on the current proposal
of the separate Commission proposal[33]
on official feed and food controls as drafted is not great, as
it in effect allows the status quo in terms of costs and financing
to be maintained.[34]
She also confirms that the cost implications of the current proposal
would be relatively small so far as meat plants and dairy and
fishery products are concerned, and that the principal impact
would arise as a result of the increased frequency of testing
required for biotoxins in molluscs. She points out that this would
add between £3 and £5 million to the overall bill falling
on the competent authorities, a figure which she sets alongside
the £61 million of UK production in this sector in 2000.
Since biotoxins in shellfish are responsible for only a small
number of food poisoning incidents in the UK each year, she says
that the UK does not believe such an increase in testing has been
justified on public health grounds, and that it unlikely to be
necessary or desirable. The UK will therefore continue to argue
against this part of the proposal.
Conclusion
13.6 We are grateful for the Minister for
this further information.
In the light of what she has said, and the Government's general
support for the proposal, we are now clearing it.
30 (21499) 10427/00; see HC 28-iii (2000-01), paragraph
1 (17 January 2001) and HC 152-xxv (2001-02), paragraph 1 (23
April 2002) .Official Report, European Standing Committee C, 24
April 2002. Back
31
(23102) 15474/01; see HC 152-xx (2001-02), paragraph 2 (6 March
2002). Back
32
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. Back
33
(24270) 6090/03; see HC 63-xvi (2002-03), paragraph 1 (26 March
2003). Back
34
The one exception to this arises in cases of non-compliance with
rules, where Member States would be required to charge operators
with any controls which exceed normal monitoring activity. However,
the Minister points out that the detailed rules governing these
arrangements will be drawn up under the later proposal. Back
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