EU agrees food hygiene rules - Food Industry Report - Brief Article

Eurofood,  July 4, 2002  

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EU farm ministers have agreed on a package aimed at improving food hygiene all along the food chain, while ruling out over-stringent rules for artisan producers.

Meeting in Luxembourg, ministers gave the proposal their provisional approval, taking the EU ever closer to rules to make each operator along the supply chain responsible for the safety of their product.

The draft legislation has changed little throughout its passage so far through the decision making process since the European Commission put it forward, a rare phenomenon in EU legislating.

Both EU governments and the European Parliament, which has joint powers in this field, have agreed to vast swathes of the proposal, offering only minor amendments.

As it stands, the draft law will make HACCP hygiene standards binding on all operators except the farmer, for whom such requirements have been deemed onerous. Instead, farmers will be held accountable to `Good Codes of Practice.'

Central to the proposals are exemptions for a range of almost exclusively small-scale suppliers. Suppliers who deal directly with the consumer or with local shops and caterers will not be covered by the centralised EU regulations. Home-grown products, as well as products from the wild like fish, game and berries will also be exempt, as well as producers of traditional specialities.

The package must now go back to the European Parliament for a second reading before coming back to ministers for approval. Other proposals related to hygiene will also have to be ready, in order to have the EU's food hygiene policy reformed in one go.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Agra Europe Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group