2009/121/EC: Council Decision of 18 December 2008 rejecting the proposal from the Commission for a Council Regulation implementing Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the use of antimicrobial substances to remove surface contamination from poultry carcasses (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2008-12-18
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: carcase, food inspection, foodstuff, foodstuffs legislation, poultry

13.2.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 42/13

(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory)

II

DECISIONS

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 18 December 2008

rejecting the proposal from the Commission for a Council Regulation implementing Regulation (EC)
No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the use of antimicrobial
substances to remove surface contamination from poultry carcasses

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2009/121/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Article 202 thereof,

establishing the European

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down
specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (1), and in
particular Article 3(2) thereof,

from the Commission for a
Having regard to the proposal
Council
(EC) No
implementing
Regulation
853/2004 as regards the use of antimicrobial substances to
remove surface contamination from poultry carcasses,

Regulation

Having regard to Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June
1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implemen­
ting powers conferred on the Commission (2), and in particular
Article 5 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 lays down specific rules
on the hygiene of
food
food business
business operators.

food of animal origin for
It provides

that

(1) OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 55.
(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(2)

(3)

(4)

operators are not to use any substance other than water
to remove surface contamination from products of
animal origin, unless the use of such substance has
been approved in accordance with that Regulation.

A high level of protection of human health should be
assured in the pursuit of Community policies. Measures
adopted by the Community governing food and feed
must be based on an appropriate assessment of
the
possible risks for human and animal health and must,
taking into account existing scientific evidence, maintain,
or if scientifically justified, increase the level of protection
of human and animal health ensured in the Community.
High hygiene standards throughout the food production
chain and avoidance or prohibition on the use of
substances which can potentially mask poor hygiene
practices are a key priority in the Community.

In addition, a high level of protection of the environment
should be ensured in the pursuit of Community policies,
both by acts of environmental policy itself and by the
integration of environmental policy requirements into the
definition and implementation of other Community
policies and activities.

The Commission proposal underlines that several antimi­
crobial substances such as chlorine dioxide, acidified
trisodium phosphate or peroxyacids
sodium chlorite,
that are used to remove surface contamination from
poultry carcasses can pose a risk to the aquatic environ­
ment, the health of staff working in waste water systems
and the operation and performance of sewerage systems
treatment plants. The use of
and/or waste water

L 42/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

13.2.2009

antimicrobial substances containing chlorine can also
lead to the formation of chloroorganic compounds,
several of which are persistent, bioaccumulable or carci­
nogenic. Phosphorus compounds are also one of
the
the eutrophication of European regional
sources of
seas, leading to mass growth algae and other undesirable
disturbance of the aquatic environment.

The Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating
to Public Health (SCVPH) issued a report on 30 October
1998 on the ‘benefits and limitations of antimicrobial
treatments for poultry carcasses’ and recommended that
before any decontamination compound or decontami­
nation technique is authorised for use,
it should be
fully assessed.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) adopted a
scientific opinion on 14-15 December 2005 ‘on the
evaluation of the efficacy of peroxyacids for use as an
antimicrobial substance applied on poultry carcasses’. It
concluded that the efficacy of peroxyacids was difficult to
assess because the protocols submitted were not always
clearly described, and, even if they were, would not be
sufficient
to demonstrate the efficacy of peroxyacids
under commercial conditions.

The EFSA adopted a scientific opinion on 6 March 2008
‘on the assessment of possible effect of
the chlorine
dioxide, acidified sodium chlorite, trisodium phosphate
and peroxyacids on the emergence of antimicrobial
resistance’. The findings led the EFSA to encourage
further research on the likelihood of the emergence of
susceptibility to these types of substances, and the possi­
bility of their resistance to therapeutic antibiotics and
other antimicrobial agents.

The Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental
Risks (SCHER) and the Scientific Committee on Emerging
and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) adopted a
joint scientific opinion on 18 March 2008 and 2 April
2008 on the environmental
impact and effect on the
antimicrobial resistance of the four substances used for
the removal of microbial
surface contamination of
‘there is currently
poultry carcasses. They stated that
insufficient knowledge on the potential negative effects
of using different biocides’ and concluded that there was
not enough information available for producing compre­
hensive quantitative assessments. There were environ­
mental concerns about the possibility to disseminate or
select more resistant
strains and in relation to the
potential residues in the poultry carcasses.

it
Taking into account scientific information available,
cannot be
theses
substances may lead to an increased antimicrobial
resistance in humans.

excluded that

approval of

the

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance is also a major
and permanent concern of international bodies involved
in human medicine. The Commission has taken various
important legislative initiatives aiming at reducing anti­
microbial resistance linked to feed, veterinary treatment
of animals and food.

Likewise the Council adopted, at its session of 9 and
10 June 2008, Council conclusions on antimicrobial
resistance stressing that antimicrobial resistance is still a
growing European and global health problem.

voiced its disapproval of

in its resolution of 19 June
The European Parliament,
2008,
the Commission
proposal for the reasons stated above and called on the
Council to reject it.

the

establishing

The lack of scientific data in relation to hazards related to
the use of these substances leads to the application of the
precautionary principle as referred to in Article 7 of
European
Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of
Parliament and of
the Council of 28 January 2002
laying down the general principles and requirements of
food law,
the European Food Safety
Authority and laying down procedures in matters of
food safety (1). According to this principle,
in specific
circumstances where,
an assessment of
following
available information, the possibility of harmful effects
on health is identified but scientific uncertainty persists,
risk management measures necessary to
provisional
ensure the high level of health protection chosen in the
Community may be adopted, pending further scientific
information for a more comprehensive risk assessment.

(14) Data collection by food business operators and research
programmes should therefore be encouraged so that both
the efficacy of these substances and the development of
antimicrobial resistances as well as possible environmen­
tal impact could be fully assessed. For this purpose, the
EFSA has published a joint AFC/BIOHAZ guidance
document (2) on the
the
evaluation of the safety and the efficacy of substances
for the removal of microbial surface contamination of
foods of animal origin. Pending the collection and
the Council
evaluation of
it
necessary to await
in the
the outcome thereof and,
meantime, to reject the Commission’s proposal,

submission of data

such data,

considers

for

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The proposal from the Commission for a Council Regulation
implementing Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European
Parliament and of the Council as regards the use of antimi­
crobial
to remove surface contamination from
substances
poultry carcasses is rejected.

(1) OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1.
(2) The EFSA Journal (2006) 3888, p. 1.

13.2.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 42/15

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 2

Done at Brussels, 18 December 2008.

For the Council
The President

M. BARNIER