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))
Date: 2003-02-26
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: animal product, consumer information, consumer protection, food inspection, food safety, food standard, foodstuffs legislation, human nutrition, traceability

C 95/22

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

23.4.2003

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

1.5.
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.

The European Commission wants to tighten up the
1.1.
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.

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.

This proposal is part of the ‘hygiene package’, which
1.2.
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 consoli-
dation and the choice of using regulations rather than direc-
tives, which allows more consistent and quick implementation
in the Member States.

The Committee fully endorses the principle that these

2.2.
controls should apply from stable to table.

The EESC feels that the Community framework should
2.3.
improve national control systems, so as to ensure a consistent
approach in all 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
feed and food
food-borne diseases, official
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.

As for live bivalve molluscs,

2.4.
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 communi-
cated 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.

1.4.
The new inspection rules will apply to meat establish-
ments 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.

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.

23.4.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 95/23

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

The Committee stresses the importance that the official

3.1.
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.

Bearing in mind the requirements,

3.5.
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.

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

Brussels, 26 February 2003.

The EESC believes that the Commission should estab-

3.7.
lish 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 veterin-
arian attending the holding of provenance and to the com-
petent 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 stake-
holders. This is particularly important when actions required
as a result of official controls impact on stakeholders. This is
also most relevant during emergency situations.

The EESC wishes to highlight the relevance of the more
3.8.
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.

Turning to imports from third countries, the Com-
3.9.
mittee 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

The Committee fully supports the Commission’s pro-

4.1.
posal.

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 trans-
parency and effective and rapid flow of information, which are
vital to ensure consumers’ confidence.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH