No C 178/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 15.7.82 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision on general conditions to be followed for 
establishing microbiological criteria for foodstuffs and feedingstuffs, including the con­
ditions for their preparation, in the veterinary foodstuffs and animal nutrition sectors 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the Euro­
pean Communities No C 252 of 2 October 1981, page 7. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 2 October 1981 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal to the Econo­
mic and Social Committee in accordance with Article 43 of the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its 
197th plenary session held in Brussels on 28 and 29 April 1982. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 1. Background 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro­
pean Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 43 thereof, 
Having regard to the request made by the Council 
of the European Communities on 2 October 1981 
for an opinion on the proposal for a Council Deci­
sion on general conditions to be followed for estab­
lishing microbiological criteria for foodstuffs and 
feedingstuffs, including the conditions for their pre­
paration, in the veterinary, foodstuffs and animal 
nutrition sectors, 
Having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau 
on 27 October 1981, instructing the Section for the 
Protection of the Environment, Public Health and 
Consumer Affairs to draw up an opinion and a 
report on the matter, 
Having regard to the discussions of that Section at 
its 68th meeting, held on 30 March 1982, 
Having regard to the oral report of the rapporteur, 
Mr Daul, 
Having regard to the discussions at its 197th plenary 
session of 28 and 29 April 1982, 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
unanimously: 1.1. The Commission proposal has been drawn up 
with the two-fold aim of furthering the creation of a 
single market in foodstuffs and safeguarding public 
health. The Commission believes that common 
microbiological criteria are needed in the foodstuffs 
and feedingstuffs area in order to prevent the emerg­
ence of new barriers to trade and divergences in the 
health standards applied by Member States. 
1.2. At international level, a significant amount of 
work on the application of microbiological criteria 
for food control has already been carried out within 
the framework of the Codex Alimentarius. The 
Commission has taken this work as the starting 
point for the development of a Community policy. 
Since the Commission embarked on its preparatory 
work, the general principles for the establishment 
and application of microbiological criteria for foods 
have been adopted in their final form by the Codex 
Alimentarius Committee on Food Hygiene (Ali-
norm 81/13 An. II). 
1.3. The draft Decision seeks to lay down a frame­
work of general principles to be followed when 
Community microbiological criteria are being estab­
lished. The draft Decision does not itself establish 
such microbiological criteria. These are to be the 
subject of individual Community measures drawn 
up for each sector. Accordingly, although the sub-
15.7.82 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 178/7 
ject is a technical one, the draft is couched in broad 
and general terms. 
1.4. The draft Decision comprises two short arti­
cles, the substance being contained in the annexes. 
Annex A outlines the general principles to be fol­
lowed in establishing microbiological criteria. 
Annex B contains an extensive, but non-exhaustive, 
list of food products and feedingstuffs to which 
Community ground-rules would apply when micro­
biological criteria were being drawn up. 
2. General comments 
2.1. The Committee fully endorses the basic prin­
ciples which underlie the Commission's thinking, 
namely: 
— the creation of a single market in foodstuffs and 
feedingstuffs by means of the introduction of 
common standards; 
— the safeguarding of public health; 
— the establishment of a scientifically-based and 
economically justifiable system of control. 
In the Committee's view, all three principles must 
have the same importance. 
2.2. In practice, the effectiveness of the Decision 
will depend on the extent to which the objectives of 
promoting a single market and protecting of public 
health are met. In the Committee's view, they must 
be seen as joint objectives. Under no circumstances 
should one principle be used as a pretext for under­
mining the other. 
2.3. The Committee recognizes that the establish­
ment of common criteria for food control is a means 
of furthering these objectives. Within these different 
methods of food control, microbiological criteria, 
the subject of the proposal, play a significant part. 
2.4. The Committee notes that the Decision would 
apply to an extensive list of products. Furthermore, 
in an individual product range, there could be in­
stances requiring different treatment because of dif­
ferent conditions of manufacture and distribution. 
The Committee therefore believes that the draft 
Decision can only set out the principles in very gen­
eral terms. Community criteria for individual prod­
ucts would have to be drawn up on a case-by-case 
basis. 2.5. In view of the detailed work done within the 
wider international context of the Codex Alimentar-
ius, the Committee believes that the Commission 
should follow the wording of the Codex Alimentar-
ius provisions as closely as possible, only diverging 
to the extent necessary to secure their application on 
a Community-wide basis. 
2.6. The Committee notes that the Decision recom­
mends inter alia 'the fixing of three levels of micro­
biological criteria based on the nature of the risk of 
contamination and its probability'. The Committee 
considers that this concept should be brought out 
more clearly in the text. 
2.7. The Committee proposes that the draft Deci­
sion stipulate that the microbiological criteria are to 
be reviewed every three years. 
3. Specific comments 
3.1. Article 1 
To clarify the relationship between paragraph 1 and 
paragraph 2, the latter should be amended to read: 
'Paragraph 1 shall apply in particular for the con­
sideration of the establishment of Community 
microbiological criteria ...'. 
3.2. Annex A, point 1 
'Micro-organisms' should be defined as including 
bacteria, viruses, yeasts, moulds and toxins. 
3.3. Annex A, point 2 
3.3.1. The Committee does not fully appreciate the 
advantage of the proposed system of three levels of 
criteria. It therefore calls upon the Commission to 
reconsider the suitability of this system. 
3.3.2. At all events, if the Commission wishes to 
return this system the purpose and the scope of the 
three concepts: 
— Microbiological guidelines; 
— Microbiological end-product specifications; 
— Microbiological standards; 
should be defined more accurately. 
NoC 178/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 15.7.82 
3.3.3. In particular, the application of 'microbio­
logical guidelines' in distribution and storage 
should be clarified. 
3.3.4. It should also be made clear at what point 
'microbiological end-product specifications' are to 
be applied. This is particularly important for perish­
able and semi-preserved products. It is noted that 
these specifications are to be 'applied by the compe­
tent control authorities'. The Committee wonders, 
however, whether these bodies already exist and if 
they are indeed placed under the direct authority of 
the Member States? 
3.3.5. Furthermore, there is a need to specify what 
constitutes the 'collaborative studies' and 'experi­
ence' which, under the terms of the draft Decision, 
are to provide the criteria for the establishment of 
the microbiological standards. 
3.3.6. The Committee considers that the 'micro­
biological sampling plan' should be more correctly 
defined as: 
'the sample, including the number of sample units to 
be taken, the way they are to be taken, the size of 
the sample unit, and the place, and, if appropriate, 
the time at which the sampling is done as well as the 
interpretation of the analytical results in relation to 
the limit(s) set'. 
3.4. Annex A, point 3 
3.4.1. The Committee considers that a reference to 
the concept of quality should be inserted in point 3 
of Annex A. It therefore proposes that the first sen­
tence of this point be amended to read as follows: 
'The need for the establishment of microbiological 
criteria shall be based on evidence of hazards to 
health, the practical feasibility of effective health 
protection through their application and, where 
applicable, the danger of a deterioration in the 
quality of the product'. 
3.4.2. In the final indent, the word 'inspection' 
should be replaced by 'control' in the English ver­
sion. 
3.5. Annex A, point 4 
The sentence: 'Micro-organisms whose significance 
with regard to the foodstuff or feedingstuff is in 
doubt should not be used in a criterion' could give 
rise to differences of interpretation. The Committee 
proposes that this sentence be amended so as to state clearly that the presence of these micro-organ­
isms cannot be permitted. 
3.6. Annex A, point 6 
In establishing reference methods, it is highly un­
desirable to 'sacrifice sensitivity and reproducibility in 
the interest of speed and simplicity', particularly if 
the reference methods are to be used to determine 
the acceptability of a product. 
3.7. Annex A, point 8 
In the first sentence, the word 'limits' should be 
replaced by 'criteria'. In the second sentence, the 
word 'limits' should be replaced by 'sampling plan 
used in the criterion'. 
3.8. Annex A, point 9 
The word 'sample' should be replaced by 'sample 
unit'. 
3.9. Annex A, point 10 
As regards the final sentence of this point, the Com­
mittee would refer to its comments on the three 
levels of criteria proposed by the Commission (see 
point 3.3. above). This sentence should be amended 
in the light of the clarifications to be made to 
point 2 of Annex A. 
3.10. Annex A, point 11 
The words 'within the lot' should be added to the 
second sentence. 
3.11. Annex A, point 12 
The Committee considers that the extent of testing 
(in the French version the word etendu should be 
substituted for importance) should be laid down 
within the framework of and in accordance with the 
criteria to be set for each of the products. This is the 
only way to enable the criteria to be sufficiently 
flexible and to avoid creating new trade barriers. 
3.12. Annex A, point 13 
3.12.1. In order to clarify the measures to be taken 
when a product fails to meet the microbiological cri­
teria, the word 'preferably' in the second sentence 
should be deleted. 
15. 7. 82 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 178/9 
3.12.2. The order of indents (a), (b) and (c) in 
point 13 should be reversed so that they can be read 
in conjunction with the corresponding indents 
under point 2. 
4. Annex B 
4.1. The Committee notes that the list in this 
Annex is illustrative and therefore not exhaustive. 
The Committee would, however, ask that the list be 
extended to include a number of products which 
involve a relatively high risk, such as crustaceans, 
game and groundnuts. 4.2. The Committee also proposes that amend­
ments be made to the list so as to avoid overlapping 
terms, such as 'shellfish' and 'seafoods'. The term 
'similar products' should be defined. 
5. Conclusion 
In conclusion, the Committee calls upon the Coun­
cil to adopt this Decision very soon and upon the 
Commission to draw up the draft implementing 
Directives as soon as possible. The effective imple­
mentation of common microbiological criteria is an 
extremely important aspect of consumer protection. 
Done at Brussels, 28 April 1982. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Tomas ROSEINGRAVE