Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation No 11 concerning the abolition of discrimination in transport rates and conditions, in implementation of Article 79(3) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffs COM(2007) 90 final — 2007/0037 (COD)
Date: 2007-05-30
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: carriage of goods, competition law, food inspection, foodstuff, health legislation, transport company, transport price

27.7.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 175/37

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation No 11 concerning the abolition of
discrimination in transport rates and conditions, in implementation of Article 79(3) of the Treaty
establishing the European Economic Community and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European
Parliament and the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffs’

COM(2007) 90 final — 2007/0037 (COD)

(2007/C 175/09)

On 11 May 2007 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Committee Bureau instructed the Section for the Single Market, Production and Consumption to
prepare the Committee's work on the subject.

Given the urgent nature of the work, the European Economic and Social Committee appointed Mr Gkofas as
rapporteur-general at its 436th plenary session, held on 30 and 31 May 2007 (meeting of 30 May), and
adopted the following opinion unanimously.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

The proposal

two regulations:

submitted to the EESC entails

the
1.1
amendment of
they are Regulation No 11
concerning the abolition of discrimination in transport rates
and conditions, in implementation of Article 79(3) of the Treaty
establishing the European Economic Community, and Regu-
lation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and the
Council on the hygiene of foodstuffs.

The EESC therefore agrees with the amendment to Regu-
1.4
lation No 11, and more specifically with the deletion of Article 5
and the amendment of Article 6 deleting the fifth and sixth
indents of paragraph 1. It also agrees with the amendment to
Article 6 deleting the third sentence of paragraph 2, and repla-
cing paragraph 3 with the following text: ‘Where existing docu-
ments such as consignment notes or any other transport docu-
ment give all
in
conjunction with carriers' recording and accounting systems,
enable a full check to be made of transport rates and conditions,
so that the forms of discrimination referred to in Article 75(1)
of the Treaty may be thereby abolished or avoided, carriers shall
not be required to introduce new documents’.

the details specified in paragraph 1 and,

1.2 With regard to Community policies for better regulation,
the European Economic and Social Committee considers redu-
cing the administrative burden placed on businesses by existing
legislation to be a necessary and crucial
factor in boosting
competitiveness and achieving the goals of the Lisbon agenda.
The Communication from the Commission to the Council, the
European Parliament,
the European Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions on A strategic
review of Better Regulation in the European Union, and the Commu-
nication from the Commission to the Council, the European
Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and
the Committee of the Regions on an Action Programme for Redu-
cing Administrative Burdens in the European Union certainly contri-
bute to this purpose.

1.3
The first amendment regards Regulation No 11, which of
course dates back a very long way, concerning the abolition of
discrimination in transport rates and conditions, in implementa-
tion of Article 79(3) of the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community. The EESC agrees on abolishing the obli-
gation to provide information on routes, distances, rates and
other transport conditions, and allowing the use of consignment
notes to provide information on the remaining requirements
related to the current transport document, because it provides
for a reduction of unnecessary administrative burdens while the
same level of essential information continues to be available.

The EESC agrees with the amendment of Regulation
1.5
852/2004, intended to provide for the exemption of the rele-
vant businesses from the requirements of Article 5(1) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 852/2004, since operators must comply with all
the regulation's other requirements. Under Article 5(1) of the
food businesses which are micro-enterprises
Regulation, all
predominantly selling their products directly to the final
consumer, such as bakeries, butchers, grocery shops, market
stalls, restaurants and bars, and which are micro-enterprises
of Commission Recommendation
within
2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of
micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, must put in place,
implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures
based on the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)
principles.

the meaning

1.6
However, the EESC considers that the exemption of the
above-mentioned businesses who sell their products directly to
the final consumer, such as bakeries, butchers, grocery shops,
restaurants or bars should also be extended to small enterprises,
as defined by Recommendation 2003/361/EC concerning the
definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

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27.7.2007

1.7
Extending the exemption in this way will probably mean
incorporating two requirements in the amendment of Article 5
of Regulation 852. The provision would include small enter-
than
prises — defined of
50 employees, a number too high for exemption from HACCP
— and with their inclusion a specific reference and restrictions
for catering businesses would be introduced.

as having no more

course

1.8
The first requirement could be strict compliance with the
hygiene guides and specific hygiene requirements set out in
Article 4 of Regulation 852/2004 which, together with staff
training, would be sufficient to ensure food product hygiene,
while at the same time making it easier for businesses to meet
their legal obligations.

1.9
The second requirement — with the same aim of
exempting small catering enterprises, which by definition have
fewer than 50 employees — could be that, in the specific case
of these businesses, there could be no more than 10 persons
per shift working on product preparation (production unit-
kitchen). The enterprise would be required to provide,
in
advance, a list of those workers engaged in preparation.

the

with

The introduction of these distinctions and clarifications
1.10
complies
Recommendation
provisions
2003/361/EC, while laying down production and shift restric-
such as bakeries,
tions
butchers, grocery shops, restaurants and bars so as also to
satisfy the conditions necessary to protect and safeguard public
health.

specifically for catering businesses

of

2. Introduction

2.1
The Commission has asked the EESC to draw up an
two regulations: Regulation
opinion on the amendment of
No 11 concerning the abolition of discrimination in transport
rates and conditions, in implementation of Article 79(3) of the
Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and
the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffs.

2.2
Regarding Regulation No 11 concerning the abolition of
discrimination in transport rates and conditions, in implementa-
tion of Article 79(3) of the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, considers the possibility of deleting
outdated requirements and modifying certain requirements in
order to minimise the administrative burdens on businesses.
Article 5 notably requested transport undertakings (as well as
Member States' governments) to provide information on trans-
port tariffs, rates and conditions before 1 July 1961. Article 6(1)
the Regulation requires a transport document containing
of
the
information elements concerning the consignor,
several
nature of the goods carried, the place of origin and destination
of the goods as well as the route to be taken or distance to be
travelled, including frontier crossing points where appropriate.

Since these latter elements are no longer
indispensable to
achieve the objectives of the Regulation, they can be deleted.
The third sentence of Article 6(2) of the Regulation requires the
carrier to retain a copy showing the full and final transport
charges and any other charges and any rebates or other factors
affecting the transport rates and conditions. This sentence can
be deleted, as nowadays this information is available in the
accounting systems. Article 6(3) is to contain an explicit refer-
ence to consignment notes, which are very well-known and
often used in the inland transport
reference
improves legal certainty for transport undertakings as it clarifies
that these consignment notes, if containing all details required
by paragraph 1 of Article 6, suffice.

sector. This

Another ‘fast

2.3
track action’ relates to Regulation (EC)
No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and the Council on
the hygiene of foodstuffs. The purpose is to exempt micro food
businesses able to control food hygiene simply by implementing
the other requirements of Regulation (EC) 852/2004 from the
requirement to put in place, implement and maintain a perma-
nent procedure or procedures based on the hazard analysis and
critical control points (‘HACCP’) principles. This exemption
applies to micro-enterprises that are predominantly selling food
directly to the final consumer.

3. General comments

The EESC welcomes the amendment to Regulation No 11
3.1
concerning the abolition of discrimination in transport rates
and conditions, in implementation of Article 79(3) of the Treaty
establishing the European Economic Community, envisaging the
deletion of outdated requirements and the modification of
certain requirements in order to minimise the administrative
burdens on businesses.

to

the

regard

of Regulation
3.2 With
(EC) No 852/2004, the EESC considers that small enterprises
should also be taken into account, in keeping with Recommen-
dation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003. A degree of flexibility is
needed for these businesses, as has been shown in practice.

amendment

3.3
It must be recognised that, as in the case of micro-enter-
prises, it is not possible for some small enterprises to establish
HACCP criteria, but only critical control points. This is specifi-
cally on account of the difficulty in storing documents, which
would place an excessive burden on these businesses.

3.4
Recommendation 2003/361/EC defined micro-enter-
prises as those employing a total of fewer than 10 persons and
with a turnover of less than EUR 2 million. This definition may
well be appropriate regarding the number of employees for
enterprises in some Member States; however, in proportion to
this number of employees and in these Member States, the
EUR 2 million turnover is excessive.

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only

enterprises,

commercial

because with

3.5 Moreover,
the definition given in Recommendation
2003/361/EC makes no distinction between catering or
commercial enterprises, at least with regard to the number of
employees, The EUR 2 million criterion was added specifically
for
three
employees they can — in some Member States, at least —
generate a turnover of more than EUR 1.5 million. This unac-
ceptable anomaly has been corrected only for a specific type of
enterprise. It is therefore reasonable, at least for the present
opinion,
that catering businesses operating in
various Member States cannot be argued to be micro-enterprises
only when they have fewer than ten employees and turnover of
less than EUR 2 million. In some Member States, catering busi-
nesses operate two shifts and consequently employ considerably
more than ten persons, while their turnover is naturally well
below EUR 500 000.

to consider

4. Specific comments

4.1
The EESC considers that the reference to Recommenda-
tion 2003/361/EC made in the text under consideration in the
present opinion, concerning the definition of enterprises, and
a different
specifically to applying HACCP,
approach.

should take

4.2
Extending the exemption in this way will probably mean
incorporating two requirements in the amendment of Article 5
of Regulation 852. The provision would include small enter-
prises — defined of
than
50 employees, a number too high for exemption from HACCP
— and with their inclusion a specific reference and restrictions
for catering businesses would be introduced.

as having no more

course

4.3
The first requirement could be strict compliance with the
hygiene guides and specific hygiene requirements set out in
Article 4 of Regulation 852/2004 which, together with staff
training, would be sufficient to ensure food product hygiene,
while at the same time making it easier for businesses to meet
their legal obligations.

Brussels, 30 May 2007.

4.4
The second requirement — with the same aim of
exempting small catering enterprises, which by definition have
fewer than 50 employees — could be that, in the specific case
of these businesses, such as bakeries, butchers, grocery shops,
market stalls, restaurants and bars, there could be no more than
10 persons per shift working on product preparation. The enter-
prise would be required to provide, in advance, a list of those
workers engaged in preparation.

with

The introduction of these distinctions and clarifications
4.5
complies
Recommendation
provisions
2003/361/EC, while laying down production and shift restric-
tions specifically for catering businesses so as also to satisfy the
conditions necessary to protect and safeguard public health.

the

of

In particular,

4.6
the following
sentence should be added to Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC)
No 852/2004:

the EESC considers that

4.6.1
‘Without prejudice to the other requirements of this
Regulation, paragraph 1 may be amended so that small catering
enterprises, bakeries, butchers, grocery shops, market stalls,
restaurants and bars, as defined and clarified in Recommenda-
tion 2003/361/EC, are also exempted from the application of
HACCP, on condition of strict compliance with the hygiene
guides, the specific hygiene requirements set out in Article 4 of
together with staff
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, which,
training, would be sufficient to ensure food product hygiene,
while at the same time making it easier for businesses to meet
their legal obligations. The protection of public health is the key
prerequisite’.

for

small

‘Similarly,

4.6.2
catering enterprises, bakeries,
butchers, grocery shops, market stalls, restaurants and bars,
which of course by definition have less than 50 employees, the
additional and specific condition must be met that no more
than 10 persons per shift may work on product preparation
(production unit-kitchen)’.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS