WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/539 
4 February 2005 
 
 (05-0462) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
THE TRACEABILITY OF FOOD, FEED, FOOD-PRODUCING ANIMALS,  
AND ANY OTHER SUBSTANCE INTENDED TO BE, OR EXPECTED TO BE, 
INCORPORATED INTO A FOOD OR FEED IMPORTED INTO  
THE COMMUNITY FOR PLACING ON THE MARKET 
 
Communication from the European Communities
 
   The following communication, dated 25 January 2 005, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the European Communities. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
 The attached paper by the European Commission aims to clarify several points of relevance to 
Third Countries interested in the new rules on traceability as expressed in the General Food Law 
implemented in Regulation (EC) 178/2002, artic le 11 (import) and article 18 (traceability). 
 The full text of the document "Guidance on the implementation of Articles 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 
19 & 20 of Regulation (EC) N° 178/2002 on General Food Law"
1 (in English only, 31 pages) is 
available at the internet address indicated below: 
 http://europa.sanco.cec.eu.int/comm/food/food/foodlaw/guidance/index_en.htm  
 
 The full consolidated text2 of the Regulation (EC) N° 178/2002 (published in Official Journal, 
L31, Volume 45, 1 February 2002 pp 1- 24) can be found at the addresses below: 
 
English:  http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/cons leg/pdf/2002/en_2002R0178_do_001.pdf  
French:  http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fr/c onsleg/pdf/2002/fr_2002R0178_do_001.pdf  
Spanish:  http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/es/cons leg/pdf/2002/es_2002 R0178_do_001.pdf  
  
 
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 1 The present document aims to a ssist all players in the food chain to better understand and to apply 
correctly and in a uniform way the Regulation. However, this document has no formal legal status and in the 
event of a dispute, ultimate responsibility for the inte rpretation of the law lies with the Court of Justice. 
 2 This consolidated document is meant purely as a documentation tool. G/SPS/GEN/539 
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ATTACHMENT 
 
THE GENERAL FOOD LAW OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND  
ITS PROVISIONS RELATED TO TRACEABILITY 
 
Article 18, Regulation 178/2002 – OJ L31, 01.02.2002, p1 
 
 Introduction  
Regulation (EC) 178/2002, notified in G/SPS/N/ EEC/110 (8 February 2001) was adopted on 
28 January 2002, notified in G/SPS/N/EEC/110/Add. 2.  One of its objectives is to lay down 
overarching guiding principles and legitimate objectives for food law in order to ensure a high level of 
health protection and the effective functioning of the internal market.  
Because of the broad and general character of the pr ovisions of the Regulation, some stakeholders and 
third countries have requested some guidance to en sure their compliance with the relevant provisions 
of the General Food Law.  In particular the pr ovisions of Article 18 related to traceability have 
triggered numerous questions.  This document attempts to eliminate any remaini ng uncertainty related to the interpretation of 
Article 18 of Regulation 178/2002, but it has no formal legal status. In the event of a dispute, ultimate 
responsibility for the interpretation of the General Food Law lies with the European Court of Justice. 
ARTICLE 11 
 
Food and feed imported into the Community for pl acing on the market within the Community shall 
comply with the relevant requirements of food law or conditions recognised by the Community to be 
at least equivalent thereto or, where a specific  agreement exists between the Community and the 
exporting country, with the requirements contained therein. 
 
ARTICLE 18 
 
1 .The traceability of food, feed, food-producing ani mals, and any other substance intended to be, or 
expected to be, incorporated into a food or feed  shall be established at all stages of production, 
processing and distribution.  
2. Food and feed business operators shall be able to identify any person from whom they have been 
supplied with a food, a feed, a food-producing animal , or any substance intende d to be, or expected to 
be, incorporated into a food or feed. To this end, such operators shall have in place systems and 
procedures which allow for this information to be  made available to the competent authorities on 
demand. 
3. Food and feed business operato rs shall have in place systems and procedures to identify the other 
businesses to which their products have been supplied. This information shall be made available to 
the competent authorities on demand. 
4. Food or feed which is placed  on the market or is likely to be placed on the market in the 
Community shall be adequately labelled or identifie d to facilitate its traceability, through relevant 
documentation or  information in accordance w ith the relevant requirements of more specific 
provisions. 
5. Provisions for the purpose of applying the requiremen ts of this Article in respect of specific sectors 
may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 58(2).  G/SPS/GEN/539 
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Rationale 
 
Recent food scares (such as the dioxin crisis) have dem onstrated that the identification of the origin of 
feed and food is of prime importance for the prot ection of consumers.  In particular, traceability 
facilitates the withdrawal of foods and enables cons umers to be provided with targeted and accurate 
information concerning implicated products . Traceability is not a food safety measure per se.  It is a 
risk management tool to be used in order to contain a food safety problem.  
 
Objective  
Traceability rules may have different objectives such  as food safety, fair trading between operators 
and reliability of the information provided to consumers.  Regulation 178/2002 introduces the 
traceability requirement with the particular objectiv e to ensure food safety and to enable unsafe 
food/feed to be removed from the market.  
Traceability is meant to ensure that  targeted and accurate withdrawals or recalls can be undertaken, 
appropriate information can be given to consumers and food business operators, risk assessment can 
be performed by control authorities and unnecessary wider disruption of trade can be avoided. 
 
The implications 
 
Article 18 requires food and feed business operators: 
 
- to be able to identify from whom and to whom a product has been supplied;  and  
- to have systems and procedures in place that  allow for this information to be made 
available to the authorities on demand. 
-  
The requirement relies on the "one step up – one st ep down" approach to ensure chain traceability: 
 
- Food and feed business operators must have in place a system enabling them to 
identify the immediate supplier and immediate client of their products.  
- A link "supplier-product" and "client-pr oduct" must be established (from which 
supplier which products and to which clients which products).  
 
Applicability to third country exporters (in connection with Article 11) 
 
The traceability provisions of the General Food Law do not have an extra-territorial effect outside the 
European Union.  This requirement covers all stag es of production, processing and distribution in the 
European Union, namely from the importer
 up to the retail level. 
Article 11 should not be constr ued as extending the traceability requirement to food/feed business 
operators in third countries.  It requires that  food/feed imported into the European Community 
complies with the relevant requirements of EU food/feed law. 
Exporters in trading partner countries are not le gally required to fulfil the traceability requirement 
imposed on operators within the European Union by Article 18 of Reg. 178/2002.  However, there 
may be circumstances where there are special bilate ral legal requirements for certain sectors or where 
there are specific European Community legal requi rements, for example in the veterinary sector, 
where certification rules require information concer ning the origin of the good.  These requirements 
are not affected by the traceability provisions of the general food law.  G/SPS/GEN/539 
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The objective of Article 18 is sufficiently fulfilled because the requirement extends to the importer. 
Where the EU importer is able to identify from whom the product was exported in the third country, 
the requirement of Article 18 and its obj ective is deemed to be satisfied.  
It is common practice among some EU food business ope rators to request trading partners to meet the 
traceability requirements and even beyond the "one step back-one step forward" principle.  However, 
it should be noted that such requests are part of food business’ contractual arrangements and not of 
requirements established by the Regulation. 
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