Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption"

(COM(2002) 377 final - 2002/0141 (COD))

(2003/C 95/06)

On 24 July 2002 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 152 (4) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 4 February 2003. The rapporteur was Mr Donnelly.

At its 397th plenary session on 26 and 27 February 2003 (meeting of 26 February), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 108 votes for, 2 against and 4 abstentions.

1. Gist of the Commission proposal

1.1. The European Commission wants to tighten up the official inspection rules for a variety of products of animal origin from fresh meat to milk. In July, it adopted a draft Regulation on controls, which forms part of the Commission's strategy on food hygiene as set out in its January 2000 White Paper.

1.2. This proposal is part of the "hygiene package", which constitutes a recast of existing Community legislation on food hygiene and veterinary legislation that is currently contained in 17 directives. The Committee highly appreciates the effort of the Commission towards greater simplification and consolidation and the choice of using regulations rather than directives, which allows more consistent and quick implementation in the Member States.

1.3. For meat, the proposal incorporates the latest opinions from the Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures Relating to Public Health and brings meat-inspection legislation into line with forthcoming EU rules in the fields of hygiene, zoonoses or food-borne diseases, official feed and food controls. The EESC supports the fact that the annexes can be amended using the procedure referred to in Article 6; this will enable rapid introduction of changes based on the views of the Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures Relating to Public Health.

1.4. The new inspection rules will apply to meat establishments and meat-cutting plants. For live bivalve molluscs such as oysters, clams and mussels, monitoring programmes in harvesting areas must be set up to measure the level of contamination. Consuming toxic shellfish can cause serious illness, with symptoms ranging from vomiting to falling into a coma.

1.5. The Commission also wants to stop contaminated milk from leaving the farm gate and prevent it going into dairies. The measures applying to poultry have been left untouched.

2. General comments

2.1. The EESC believes that the specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin for human consumption needed to be revised.

2.2. The Committee fully endorses the principle that these controls should apply from stable to table.

2.3. The EESC feels that the Community framework should improve national control systems, so as to ensure a consistent approach in all Member States.

2.4. As for live bivalve molluscs, the EESC welcomes the proposal requiring the establishing of a monitoring programme of harvesting areas. The results of monitoring of harvesting areas for live bivalve molluscs could be communicated using modern technologies, with a view to a more rapid communication and more transparency.

2.5. Regarding milk and milk products, the EESC supports the Commission's proposal to include among official controls the control of holdings, of raw milk upon collection, and of processed dairy products.

2.6. The Committee endorses the approach of the White Paper on Food Safety regarding a Community framework of national control systems. The Committee appreciates the value of the small processing sector for the production of quality products at local level, as well as its importance in relation to the more general themes of food safety, animal health and animal welfare.

2.7. The Committee feels that measures should be taken to ensure that the introduction of a regulation on official controls, in the constant pursuit of unambiguous hygiene and quality objectives, does not impact on the viability of the small abattoirs and the fresh meat cutting sector.

3. Specific comments

3.1. The Committee stresses the importance that the official control system should be risk and science based.

3.2. The EESC feels that audits and controls should be achieved by encompassing food safety, animal health and welfare.

3.3. As for the scope of the proposal, the EESC believes that these official controls should be extended to all sectors in the food chain from stable to table.

3.4. The EESC would highlight the importance that right through the production processing and placing on the market, the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles should be applied.

3.5. Bearing in mind the requirements, in the official controls, for audit, good hygienic practices (GHP) and HACCP programmes in all sectors, the EESC would underline the importance of introducing generic guidelines.

3.6. The Committee considers that the scientific opinion of the European Food Safety Authority in relation to pathogens in meat will enable a scientific approach to decisions relating to heat treatment.

3.7. The EESC believes that the Commission should establish an effective and simple information chain.

3.7.1. The information chain should include information on non-conformance of raw milk with the agreed standards. Such information should be provided to the private veterinarian attending the holding of provenance and to the competent authority responsible for supervising the holding.

3.7.2. In the Committee's view, the Commission should ensure that Member States have in place a documented information-management system to communicate with stakeholders. This is particularly important when actions required as a result of official controls impact on stakeholders. This is also most relevant during emergency situations.

3.8. The EESC wishes to highlight the relevance of the more overseeing role of the official veterinarian, who, besides auditing and inspection tasks, has to ensure that information resulting from inspections flows back to the farmers.

3.9. Turning to imports from third countries, the Committee asks the Commission to ensure the same level of supervision as for EU products, with a view to strengthening traceability and controls from stable to table.

4. Conclusions

4.1. The Committee fully supports the Commission's proposal.

4.2. Notably, the EESC endorses the fact that auditing and controls must be applied to all stages of production from stable to table.

4.3. The Committee highlights the importance of transparency and effective and rapid flow of information, which are vital to ensure consumers' confidence.

Brussels, 26 February 2003.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger Briesch