COMMI SSION REGUL ATION (EU) 2020/205 
of 14 Febr uary 2020 
amending Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 as regards Salmonella in reptile meat 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUR OPEAN COMMISSION, 
Havi ng regar d to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 
Havi ng regard to Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 Apr il 2004 on the 
hygiene of foodstuffs (1), and in particular Article 4(4) thereof, 
Whereas: 
(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 (2) lays down the microbiological criteria for certain micro-org anisms 
and the implementing rules to be compl ied with by food business operat ors in respect of the general and specifi c 
hygiene requirements referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. 
(2) In particular , Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 lays down food safety criteria which define the acceptab ility of a 
product or a batch of foodstuff applicable to products placed in the mark et. That Regulation does not provide for 
food safety criteria for reptile meat. 
(3) The ‘European Union summar y repor t on trends and sources of zoonoses, zoonotic agents and food-bor ne 
outbreak s in 2016’ (3) published by the European Food Safety Author ity (EFSA) and the European Centre for 
Disease Prevention and Control states that human salmonellosis is the second most repor ted human food-bor ne 
illness in the Union with around 95 000 cases repor ted annually . 
(4) In 2007, EFSA adopt ed a scientific opinion on public health risks involved in the human consump tion of reptile 
meat (4) according to whic h rept iles are well-kno wn reser voirs for Salmonella species. The scientifi c opinion reviews 
farming practices and obser ves a documente d high intestinal carrier rate in live crocodilians that is reflected in an 
equally high contamination rate in their fresh and frozen meat. The scientific opinion concludes that Salmonella is 
considered to be the most relevant bacterial hazard that may occur in reptile meat and it constitutes a signif icant 
public health risk. 
(5) Production of reptile meat in the Union is limite d, but according to data available in Eurostat’s referen ce database for 
detailed statistics on internatio nal trade in goods (Comext) (5), imports from third countr ies of fresh, chilled or 
frozen meat and edible offal of reptiles have shown an upward trend over the last 10 years with an increase of over 
50 % in the quantity impor ted during the period 2007-2017 and an average yearly import in the Union of nearly 
100 tons. 
(6) Consider ing the pote ntial signif icant health risk posed by the possible presence of Salmonella in reptile meat, a food 
safety criterion should be laid down in Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 for reptile meat. This food safet y criterion 
should oblige food business operators to take measures at previous stages of reptile meat production contr ibuting 
to the reduction of the presence of all serotypes of Salmonella with public health signif icance. 
(7) The internati onal standard EN/ISO 6579-1 is the horizontal method for the detection of Salmonella in food and 
animal feeding stuffs. Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 provid es for that standard to be the analytical 
referen ce method for Salmonella food safety criteria. It should, theref ore, be laid down as the analytical reference 
method to verify the compliance of a Salmonella in rept ile meat food safet y criterion. 
(1)OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 1. 
(2)Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 of 15 November 2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs (OJ L 338, 22.12.2005, 
p. 1). 
(3)EFSA Journal 2017;15(12):5077. 
(4)EFSA Journal (2007) 578, 1-55. 
(5)Combined nomenclature codes 0208 50 00 and 0210 93 00 as defined in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1925 
amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs 
Tariff (OJ L 282, 31.10.2017, p. 1). EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 17.2.2020                                                                                                                                           L 43/63   (8) Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 should theref ore be amended according ly. 
(9) The measures provid ed for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committ ee on 
Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGUL ATION: 
Article 1 
Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 is amended as follows : 
(1) in Article 2, the follo wing point (q) is added: 
‘(q) “reptile meat” means rept ile meat as laid down in point (16) of Article 2 of Commission Delegat ed Regulation (EU) 
2019/625 (*). 
_____________ 
(*)  Commission Delegat ed Regulation (EU) 2019/625 of 4 March 2019 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of 
the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to requirements for the entr y into the Union of 
consignments of certain animals and goods intended for human consum ption (OJ L 131, 17.5.2019, p. 18).’; 
(2) Annex I is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation. 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official 
Journal of the European Union. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 14 Febr uary 2020.  
For the Commission 
The President 
Ursula VON DER LEYEN     EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union L 43/64                                                                                                                                           17.2.2020   ANNEX 
Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 is amended as follows: 
(1) in Chapt er 1, the follo wing row 1.30 is added: 
Food categor y Micro- 
orga-
nisms/their 
toxins, 
metabolites Sampling plan Limits Analytical 
reference method Stage where the criterio n 
applies 
n c m M 
‘1.30 Repti le 
meat Salmonella 5 0 Not detected in 25 g EN ISO 6579-1 Products placed on  
the mark et during their 
shelf-life’   
(2) in Chapt er 1, footnot e 2 is replaced by the followi ng: 
‘(2) For points 1.1-1.24, 1.27a, 1.28-1.30 m = M.’   EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 17.2.2020                                                                                                                                           L 43/65