Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición
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Food Hygiene
In the White Paper on Food Safety, the European Commission outlined a radical revision of Community food hygiene and safety rules according to which, food operators have the primary responsibility for food safety.
The new rules merge, harmonise and simplify complex hygiene requirements previously set forth in a number of Council Directives covering the hygiene of foodstuffs with special emphasis on products of animal origin. They innovate in creating a single hygiene policy that is transparent and applicable to all food and all food operators right through the food chain "from the farm to the fork ", together with introducing effective instruments to manage food safety and any future food crises at all stages of the food chain.
Regulation (EC) no. 852/2004 of the European Parliament and the Council of 29th April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, defines «food hygiene» as the measures and conditions necessary to control hazards and to ensure fitness for human consumption of a foodstuff taking into account its intended use.
According to Regulation no. (EC) 178/2002, food or foodstuff means any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be, ingested by humans.
Guidelines from the DG SANCO (Directorate General for Health and Consumers)
The what was formerly known as the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection gives an introduction to European standards relating to food safety and hygiene.
In order to clarify to everybody concerned the approach taken on food hygiene, which is documented in the “Food Hygiene Package”, the Directorate General for Health and Consumers (as it is now called) of the European Commission presents “ Food Hygiene & Safety” which explains and sets out these rules.
There are certain provisions in the hygiene rules that allow flexibility in the application of these rules, offering the possibility, in certain cases, to grant:
- Exceptions to or exemptions from certain requisites set forth in the Annexes
- Adaptation of certain requisites set forth in the Annexes
- Or exclusion of some activities when applying the food hygiene package
In order to better understand some of these provisions and to make better use of them on the part of Member States, the European Commission has published two working documents on its website that help to understand certain provisions on flexibility envisaged in the hygiene package: Guidelines for the competent authorities and Frequently asked questions: Guidelines for food business operators.
These guides set out to help all agents that take part in the food chain so that they may better understand the Community standards relating to food hygiene and apply them correctly and uniformly. They do not, however, have any legal value and in cases of conflict, as far as the interpretation of the law is concerned, the ultimate decision lies with the Court of Justice.
Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council
Article 16 of Regulation (EC) no. 852/20041, article 14 of Regulation (EC) no. 853/20042 and article 21 of Regulation (EC) no. 854/20043 require the Commission to submit to the European Parliament and the Council by 20th May 2009 a report informing of the experience acquired with the application of these rules, accompanied, as the case may be, by the pertinent proposals.
The report, which was published on 28th July, presents definite data on the experience acquired in 2006, 2007 and 2008 with the implementation of the food hygiene package by all the interested stakeholders, including any difficulties encountered, and is accompanied by a working document compiled by the Commission, which includes the annexes to the report.
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