2003/470/EC: Commission Decision of 24 June 2003 on the authorisation of certain alternative methods to be used in microbiological testing of meat intended for Finland and Sweden (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2003) 1928)
Date: 2003-06-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community certification, Finland, Sweden, animal disease, food inspection, fresh meat, import (EU)

L 157/66

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

26.6.2003

COMMISSION DECISION

of 24 June 2003

on the authorisation of certain alternative methods to be used in microbiological testing of meat
intended for Finland and Sweden

(notified under document number C(2003) 1928)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2003/470/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Decision 95/409/EC of 22 June 1995
laying down the rules for the microbiological testing of fresh
beef and veal and pigmeat intended for Finland and Sweden (1)
as amended by Council Decision 98/227/EC (2), and in parti-
cular the first paragraph of section C in the Annex thereof,

Having regard to Council Decision 95/411/EC of 22 June 1995
laying down the rules for the microbiological testing for salmo-
nella by sampling of fresh poultrymeat intended for Finland
and Sweden (3) as amended by Council Decision 98/227/EC,
and in particular the first paragraph of section C in the Annex
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

There is a need to use rapid analytical methods when
fresh meat and poultrymeat intended for Finland and
Sweden is being tested for Salmonella spp. due to the
limited shelf-life of these products. Therefore it is appro-
priate to introduce the possibility to use more rapid
alternative methods offering equivalent guarantees to the
methods authorised by Council Decisions 95/409/EC
and 95/411/EC.

The Scientific Committee on Veterinary Matters relating
to Public Health issued an opinion on criteria for evalua-
tion of methods of Salmonella detection on 19-20 June
2002. In this opinion the Committee recommended that
the validation of new alternative methods should follow
an official procedure, favouring the procedure of EN/ISO
16140 standard (4).

The Scientific Committee also concluded that the proce-
dures for validation, as described by the standardisation
bodies of Association Française de Normalisation
(AFNOR), Association of Official Analytical Chemists
(AOAC), European Committee for Standardisation (CEN),
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and

(1) OJ L 243, 11.10.1995, p. 21.
(2) OJ L 87, 21.3.1998, p. 14.
(3) OJ L 243, 11.10.1995, p. 29.
(4) EN/ISO 16140:2003 Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs

- Protocol for the validation of alternative methods

(4)

(5)

Nordic System for Validation of Alternative Microbiolo-
gical Method (NordVal), are similar in their general
outline, but differ in small details.

It is appropriate to take account of the opinion of the
Scientific Committee.

EN/ISO 16140 standard was adopted in 2002 and there
is as yet little experience of the application of this stan-
dard. Therefore, it is necessary to allow, for a provisional
period, the use of methods validated in accordance with
the validation procedures
to the procedure
described in EN/ISO 16140 standard. This possibility
should be reviewed and the relevant provisions revised,
if necessary.

similar

(6)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accor-
dance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on
the Food Chain and Animal Health,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The use of
the following alternative analytical methods is
authorised in the microbiological testing referred to in Deci-
sions 95/409/EC and 95/411/EC:

— methods, which have been validated against

the latest
editions of ISO 6579 standard (5) or method No 71 of the
Nordic Committee on Food Analyses (NMKL) (6) and certi-
fied by a third party in accordance with the protocol set in
the latest edition of EN/ISO 16140 standard,

— pending experience from the application of EN/ISO 16140
standard, methods, which have been validated against the
abovementioned analytical methods and certified to provide
equivalent
in accordance with protocols
described by Association Française de Normalisation
(AFNOR), Nordic System for Validation of Alternative
Microbiological Method (NordVal) or Association of Official
Analytical Chemists (AOAC).

guarantees

(5) ISO 6579:2002 Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs —

Horizontal method for the detection of Salmonella spp.

(6) NMKL method No 71, 5. Ed., 1999: Salmonella. Detection in food

26.6.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 157/67

The validation of these alternative methods shall include the
use of meat samples in the validation studies.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 3

Article 2

Done at Brussels, 24 June 2003.

This Decision shall be reviewed within two years after its adop-
tion in order to take into account experience gained and
progress made in the validation of alternative microbiological
methods.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission