Commission Regulation (EC) No 1021/2008 of 17 October 2008 amending Annexes I, II and III to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 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 and Regulation (EC) No 2076/2005 as regards live bivalve molluscs, certain fishery products and staff assisting with official controls in slaughterhouses (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2008-10-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal product, fishery product, food inspection, food safety, foodstuff, human nutrition, labelling, vocational training

18.10.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 277/15

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1021/2008

of 17 October 2008

amending Annexes I, II and III to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of
laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of
the Council
animal origin intended for human consumption and Regulation (EC) No 2076/2005 as regards
live bivalve molluscs, certain fishery products and staff assisting with official controls in
slaughterhouses

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

in the same way as official auxiliaries for the tasks of
such auxiliaries.

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down
the organisation of official controls on
specific rules
products of animal origin intended for human consumption (1),
and in particular Article 16 and Article 17(1) thereof,

for

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

for human consumption. Some of

Chapter III of Section I of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No
854/2004 sets out requirements for the health marking
of carcases when there are no grounds for declaring the
meat unfit
those
requirements have created confusion in the identification
of products produced within the Community and
is
products produced outside
It
therefore appropriate to clarify those provisions
in
order to ensure their smooth implementation.

the Community.

to disrupt
should

in order not
it
concerned,

the trade in the
However,
that
products
products for which a health mark has been applied in
accordance with Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 before
1 November 2009 may
into the
Community until 31 December 2009.

be provided

imported

be

to authorise slaughterhouse staff

Article 5(6) of Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 allows
Member States
to
assist with official controls by carrying out certain
specific tasks of official auxiliaries in relation to the
production of meat from poultry and lagomorphs. Part
A of Chapter III of Section III of Annex I to that Regu­
that authorisation may only be
lation provides that
granted if
the establishment have been
trained, to the satisfaction of the competent authority,

the staff of

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

14

Article
(EC) No
of Commission Regulation
2076/2005 of 5 December 2005 laying down transi­
tional arrangements for the implementation of Regu­
lations (EC) No 853/2004, (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC)
No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the
Council and amending Regulations (EC) No 853/2004
(EC) No
and
until
31 December 2009,
training may be limited to
ensuring that slaughterhouse staff are trained for the
specific tasks they are authorised to perform.

854/2004 (2),
that

provides

that,

has

not

affected

limitation

negatively

That
the
requirements for the official controls with regard to
fresh meat, as provided for
in Regulation (EC) No
854/2004. It is therefore appropriate to make the transi­
tional arrangement provided for in Regulation (EC) No
2076/2005 permanent and allow the Member States to
implement either a complete or a limited training system
and to decide upon its practical arrangements, including
the examination procedure. It is therefore appropriate to
delete Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 2076/2005 and
to amend Part A of Chapter III of Section III of Annex I
to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 accordingly.

Point 4 of Part A of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation
(EC) No 854/2004 provides that live bivalve molluscs
from Class B areas are not to exceed 4 600 E. coli per
100 g of flesh and intravalvular liquid. Article 17a of
Regulation (EC) No 2076/2005 introduces,
until
31 December 2009, a tolerance in 10 % of samples for
live bivalve molluscs originating from those areas.

samples,

in the 10 % of

That tolerance does not represent a risk for public health
live bivalve
provided that
molluscs do not exceed an upper limit of 46 000 E.
coli per 100 g of
It is
therefore appropriate to retain this
tolerance on a
is therefore appropriate to delete
It
permanent basis.
Article 17a of Regulation (EC) No 2076/2005 and to
amend point 4 of Part A of Chapter II of Annex II to
Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 accordingly.

flesh and intravalvular liquid.

(1) OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 206; corrected by OJ L 226, 25.6.2004,

p. 83.

(2) OJ L 338, 22.12.2005, p. 83.

L 277/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

18.10.2008

(8)

(9)

fishery products belonging to that
pretiosus

the European Food Safety Authority
An opinion of
adopted on 30 August 2004 on contaminants in the
food chain related to the toxicity of
fishery products
belonging to the family of Gempylidae has demonstrated
in
that
particular Ruvettus
and Lepidocybium flavo­
brunneum, may have adverse gastrointestinal effects if
not consumed under certain conditions. Regulation (EC)
No 854/2004 requires competent authorities
in the
regarding the
to carry out
Member States
marketing conditions that food business operators must
comply with in relation to fishery products belonging to
the family of Gempylidae.

family,

checks

risks for

Those conditions apply to fresh, prepared and processed
fishery products derived from those species. However,
similar
the consumer may be encountered
with frozen fishery products derived from that family.
It is therefore appropriate to require competent authori­
ties to carry out checks also for frozen fishery products
belonging to that family.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annexes I,
amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 are

II and III

Article 2

In Regulation (EC) No 2076/2005, Articles 14 and 17a are
deleted.

Article 3

Products of animal origin for which a health mark has been
applied in accordance with point (c) of paragraph 3 of Chapter
III of Section I of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004
imported into the
before 1 November 2009 may be
Community until 31 December 2009.

(10)

Regulations (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC) No 2076/2005
should therefore be amended accordingly.

Article 4

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 10th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(11)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
Standing
accordance with
Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

opinion

the

the

of

However, point 1(a) of the Annex to this Regulation shall apply
from 1 November 2009.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 17 October 2008.

For the Commission

Androulla VASSILIOU
Member of the Commission

18.10.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 277/17

ANNEX

Annexes I, II and III to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 are amended as follows:

1. Annex I is amended as follows:

(a)

In paragraph 3 of Chapter III of Section I, point (c) is replaced by the following:

‘(c) when applied in a slaughterhouse located within the Community, the mark must include the abbreviation CE,

EB, EC, EF, EG, EK, EO, EY, ES, EÜ, EK or WE.

Those abbreviations must not be included in marks applied on meat imported into the Community from
slaughterhouses located outside the Community.’

(b)

In Part A of Chapter III of Section III, point (a) is replaced by the following:

‘(a) Where the establishment has used good hygiene practice in accordance with Article 4(4) of this Regulation
and the HACCP procedure for at least 12 months, the competent authority may authorise staff of the
establishment to carry out tasks of official auxiliaries. This authorisation may only be granted if the staff
of the establishment have been trained, to the satisfaction of the competent authority, in the same way as the
official auxiliaries for the tasks of official auxiliaries or for the specific tasks they are authorised to perform.
This staff must be placed under the supervision, direction and responsibility of the official veterinarian. In
these circumstances, the official veterinarian shall be present at ante-mortem and post-mortem examinations,
shall supervise these activities and carry out regular performance tests to ensure that the performance of the
slaughterhouse staff meets the specific criteria laid down by the competent authority, and shall document the
results of those performance tests. Where the level of hygiene of the establishment is affected by the work of
this staff, where this staff does not carry out the tasks properly or where in general this staff carries out its
work in a manner that the competent authority considers unsatisfactory, this staff shall be replaced by official
auxiliaries.’

2. In Part A of Chapter II of Annex II, point 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4. The competent authority may classify as being of Class B areas from which live bivalve molluscs may be collected
and only placed on the market for human consumption after treatment in a purification centre or after relaying so
as to meet the health standards referred to in paragraph 3. Live bivalve molluscs from these areas must not exceed,
in 90 % of the samples, 4 600 E. coli per 100 g of flesh and intravalvular liquid. In the remaining 10 % of samples,
live bivalve molluscs must not exceed 46 000 E. coli per 100 g of flesh and intravalvular liquid.

The reference method for this analysis is the five-tube, three dilutions Most Probable Number (MPN) test specified
this reference method in
in ISO 16649-3. Alternative methods may be used if
accordance with the criteria in EN/ISO 16140.’

they are validated against

3. In Chapter II of Annex III, Part G is replaced by the following:

‘G. POISONOUS FISHERY PRODUCTS

Checks are to take place to ensure that:

1.

2.

3.

fishery products derived from poisonous fish of the following families are not placed on the market: Tetra­
odontidae, Molidae, Diodontidae and Canthigasteridae;

fresh, prepared, frozen and processed fishery products belonging to the family Gempylidae, in particular Ruvettus
pretiosus and Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, may only be placed on the market in wrapped/packaged form and
must be appropriately labelled to provide information to the consumer on preparation/cooking methods and
on the risk related to the presence of substances with adverse gastrointestinal effects. The scientific names of
the fishery products and the common names must appear on the label;

fishery products containing biotoxins such as ciguatera or other toxins dangerous to human health are not
placed on the market. However, fishery products derived from bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates and
marine gastropods may be placed on the market if they have been produced in accordance with Section VII of
Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 and comply with the standards laid down in Chapter V, point 2, of
that Section.’