REGULATIONS  
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 931/2011  
of 19 September 2011  
on the traceability requirements set by Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council for food of animal origin  
(Text with EEA relevance)  
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,  
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union,  
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down 
the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing 
the European Food Safety Authority and laying down 
procedures in matters of food safety (  1 ), and in particular 
Article 18(5) thereof,  
Whereas:  
(1) Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 establishes 
the general principles of traceability of food. It provides 
that the traceability of food must be established at all 
stages of production, processing and distribution. It also 
states that food business operators must be able to 
identify persons from whom they have been supplied 
with food. Such operators must also be able to identify 
businesses to which their products have been supplied. 
This information is to be made available to the 
competent authorities upon demand.  
(2) Traceability is necessary to ensure food safety and the 
reliability of information provided to consumers. In 
particular, it is necessary to apply traceability to food 
of animal origin to assist in the removal of unsafe 
food from the market, thereby protecting consumers.  
(3) To achieve the traceability of food as set out in 
Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the names 
and addresses of both the food business operator 
supplying the food and the food business operator to 
whom the food was supplied are needed. The 
requirement relies on the ‘one-step back’-‘one-step 
forward’ approach which implies that food business 
operators have in place a system enabling them to identify their immediate supplier(s) and their immediate 
customer(s), except when they are final consumers.  
(4) Food crises in the past have revealed that documentary 
records were not always sufficient to allow full tracea ­
bility of suspect foods. During the implementation of 
Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, Regulation (EC) No 
852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of 
foodstuffs (  2 ), Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 
2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of 
animal origin (  3 ) and Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of 
the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 
2004 laying down specific rules for the organisation of 
official controls on products of animal origin intended 
for human consumption (  4 ), experience has shown that 
food business operators do not generally possess the 
information needed to ensure that their systems iden ­
tifying the handling or storage of foods is adequate, in 
particular in the sector of food of animal origin. This has 
resulted in this sector to unnecessarily high economic 
losses due to the lack of quick and full traceability of 
the food.  
(5) Therefore, it is appropriate to lay down certain rules for 
the specific sector of food of animal origin to ensure the 
correct application of the requirements set out in 
Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. These 
rules should allow (some) flexibility concerning the 
format in which relevant information is made available.  
(6) In particular, it is appropriate to provide additional 
information on the volume or quantity of the food of 
animal origin, a reference identifying the lot, batch or 
consignment, as appropriate, a detailed description of 
the food and the date of dispatch.  
(7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in 
accordance with the opinion of the Standing 
Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,EN L 242/2 Official Journal of the European Union 20.9.2011  
( 1 ) OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1.  ( 2 ) OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 55.  
( 4 ) OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 206.HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
Article 1  
Subject matter  
This Regulation lays down provisions implementing the tracea ­
bility requirements set by Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 to food 
business operators in respect of food of animal origin.  
Article 2  
Scope  
1. This Regulation shall apply to food defined as unprocessed 
and processed products in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 
852/2004.  
2. This Regulation shall not apply to food containing both 
products of plant origin and processed products of animal 
origin.  
Article 3  
Traceability requirements  
1. Food business operators shall ensure that the following 
information concerning consignments of food of animal 
origin is made available to the food business operator to 
whom the food is supplied and, upon request, to the 
competent authority:  
(a) an accurate description of the food;  
(b) the volume or quantity of the food;  
(c) the name and address of the food business operator from 
which the food has been dispatched;  
(d) the name and address of the consignor (owner) if different 
from the food business operator from which the food has 
been dispatched;  (e) the name and address of the food business operator to 
whom the food is dispatched;  
(f) the name and address of the consignee (owner), if different 
from the food business operator to whom the food is 
dispatched;  
(g) a reference identifying the lot, batch or consignment, as 
appropriate; and  
(h) the date of dispatch.  
2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made 
available in addition to any information required under relevant 
provisions of Union legislation concerning the traceability of 
food of animal origin.  
3. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be 
updated on a daily basis and kept at least available until it 
can be reasonably assumed that the food has been consumed.  
When requested by the competent authority, the food business 
operator shall provide the information without undue delay. 
The appropriate form in which the information must be 
made available is up to the choice of the supplier of the 
food, as long as the information requested in paragraph 1 is 
clearly and unequivocally available to and retrievable by the 
business operator to whom the food is supplied.  
Article 4  
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following 
its publication in the  Official Journal of the European Union . 
It shall apply from 1 July 2012.  
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.  
Done at Brussels, 19 September 2011.  
For the Commission  
The President  
José Manuel BARROSOEN 20.9.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 242/3