COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0M(93) 219 final - SYN 376 
Brussels, fo May 1993 
&•••:! 
EU"** He-examined proposal for a 
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 
on the Hygiene of Foodstuffs 
ÎFfîtiv SS? 
^T^W* (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149.2(d) 
of the EEC treaty) 
in 
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Explanatory Memorandum 
The proposal regards a horizontal Directive relating to foodstuffs and 
undertakings which deal with foodstuffs. 
The Commission adopted the proposal on 10 January 1992. It was sent to 
the Council on 14 January 1992. 
The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection 
delivered its opinion on 25 September 1992, incorporating also the 
opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial 
Policy, delivered on 15 April 1992. 
The opinion of the Economic and Socical Committee was voted on 26 May 
1992. 
The opinion of the European Parliament was adopted on 29 October 1992. 
The Commission adopted a modified Proposal on 10 December 1992. 
The Council adopted the Common Position on 17 December 1992. 
The European Parliament received the Common Position on 11 February 
199J. 
At its Plenary Session, on 20 April 1993, the European Parliament voted 
a recommendation ( document A3-0126/93-PE 204.176 def.) introducing 11 
amendments. (14 amendments were tabled, amendments 1 and 2 were rejected 
and amendment 13 was annuled) 
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Amendment 3 Proposes to consolidate the specific Community food 
hygiene rules under this Directive 
The Commission did not accept beforehand the idea of 
consolidation when the study, to which the Commission has 
committed itself, has not been finished. It therefore 
rejected the amendment. 
Amendment 4 Requires risk-related frequency of inspection for all food 
businesses 
The Commission accepted the principle of risk-related 
inspections (the first part of the amendment) but rejected 
the proposed minimum interval of 2 years, which is not 
meaningful in all situations. 
Amendment 5 Control of foodstuffs imported into the Community 
The amendment refers to the obligation for the competent 
authorities to control whether imported foodstuffs comply 
with the general requirement formulated in article 3.1 of 
the Directive and not to the more specific requirements of 
paragraphs 2 and 3, which cannot be controlled. The 
Commission accepted this amendment. 
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/•.'••lencî/flent G Asks Commission to undertake a study on Community-wide 
standards for education and training of food handlers. 
Changes the provision in the Annex on training into an 
art icle. 
The Commission is prepared to undertake a study of current 
levels of education, training and qualifications on the 
principles of microbiology and food hygiene and to report 
to Parliament within 2 years about the results. The 
Commission is not in favour of Community-wide standards, 
this being far too detailed and against the principle of 
the Directive. By leaving this provision in the Annex, 
additional requirements on training in the various food 
business sectors may be formulated in the form of guides 
to good hygiene practice. The Commission rejected the 
amendment. 
Amendment 7 Opens the possibility for the competent authorities to 
close part of the undertaking. 
Commission accepted this amendment: the Article makes it 
already possible to close the whole of the undertaking. 
Amendment 8 Gives the undertaking the right to compensation if. on 
appeal. It is found that incorrect action has been 
enforced. 
The Commission rejected this amendment, this being a 
matter for the national law-giver to decide upon. Moreover 
it can be argued that the hygiene Directive is not the one 
in which to regulate this. 
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Amendment 9 Requires as far as reasonably practicable protection 
against external sources of contamination. 
The Commission rejected this amendment because the word 
"protection" in the text covers sufficiently the meaning 
of this amendment so that the addition of the words 
"as far as reasonably practicable" is superfluous. 
Amendment 10 Adds to chapter 1 of the Annex the requirement that 
provisions for washing food must be separate from the hand 
washing faciIity. 
The Commission accepted this amendment on condition that 
the words: When necessary are added. 
Amendment 11 Requires where appropriate every person working in a food 
handling area to wear suitable clothing. 
Commission accepted the amendment (with editorial 
changes). The addition of the word "where appropriate" 
made the amendment acceptable. 
Amendment 12 Requires specific storage conditions for packaging 
materials. 
The Commission rejected this amendment. It is unnecessary 
as adequate rules for packaging materials are mentioned in 
Chapter V of the Annex. 
Amendment 14 Requires that all other linguistic versions of paragraph 2 
of chapter IV of the Annex be brought into line with the 
French version. 
The French text is the one the Commission prefers and it 
therefore accepted the amendment. 
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Reexamined proposal for a 
CounciI Direct ive 
on the Hygiene of Foodstuffs 
The Commission did not agree to the proposed change of Article 14. The 
Commission maintains its proposal thereto and subject to the following 
amendments, the Commission is in agreement with the common position 
stated in Council document n' 10883/1/92. 
1. Add the following subparagraph to Article 8 paragraph 2 (a) 
Member States shall provide that all food premises are inspected 
at a frequency which has regard to the risk associated with the 
premises. 
2. Change article 8 paragraph 3 as follows. 
The competent authorities shall ensure that controls on 
foodstuffs imported into the Community are carried out in 
accordance with Directive 89/397EEC for the purpose of ensuring 
that the relevant provisions of Article 3.1 and, where 
appropriate, any provisions laid down pursuant to Article 4, are 
being observed. 
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3. Cftange Article 9 paragraph t as fellows. 
If while carrying out the controls referred to in Article 8,the 
competent authorities ascertain that failure to comply with the 
provisions of Article 3, or where appropriate, any provisions 
laid down pursuant to Article 4 might result in risks to the 
safety or who Iesomeness of foodstuffs they shall take appropriate 
measures, which may extend to the withdrawal and/or the 
destruction of the foodstuff or to the closure of a11 or part of 
the undertaking for an appropriate period of time. 
4. Change Chapter I paragraph 4 of the Annex as follows. 
Washbasins for cleaning hands must be provided with hot and cold 
running water, materials for cleaning hands and for hygienic 
drying. When necessary the provisions for washing food must be 
separate from the hand washing facility. 
5. Change Chapter IV paragraph 2 of the Annex as follows. 
Such receptacles in vehicles and/or containers must not be used 
for transporting anything other than foodstuffs where this may 
result in contamination of foodstuffs. 
Bulk foodstuffs in liquid, granular or powder form must be 
transported In receptacles and/or containers/tankers reserved for 
the transport of foodstuffs. Such containers must be marked in a 
clearly visible and indelible fashion, in one or more Community 
languages, to show that they are used for the transport of 
foodstuffs, or must be marked "for foodstuffs only". 
6. Change Chapter VIII paragraph 1 of the Annex as follows. 
Every person working in a food handling area shall maintain a 
high degree of personal cleanliness and where appropriate shall 
wear suitable, clean, protective clothing. 

ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(93) 219 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 10 05 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-246-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-55863-6 
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