CELEX: 51981PC0500
Language: en
Date: 1981-09-14
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING DIRECTIVE 71/118/EEC ON HEALTH PROBLEMS AFFECTING TRADE IN FRESH POULTRYMEAT

2. 10.81                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 252/11
                 Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 71/118/EEC on health problems
                                                affecting trade in fresh poultrymeat
                              (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 23 September 1981)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                           influence on the standard of hygiene; whereas a
 COMMUNITIES,                                                          uniform criterion of assessment should also be laid
                                                                       down;
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
 European Economic Community, and in particular                        Whereas decisions laying down and, where necessary,
 Article 43 thereof,                                                   amending the microbiological methods to be
                                                                       employed for microbiological control should be
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                    adopted in accordance with a procedure ensuring
                                                                       close cooperation between the Member States and the
                                                                       Commission,
 Having regard to the opinion of the European
 Parliament,
 Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
 Social Committee,
                                                                       HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Whereas Council Directive 71/118/EEC ('), as last
                                                                                               Article 1
 amended by Directive 80/216/EEC (2), lays down the
 hygiene conditions under which fresh poultrymeat
 must be produced in slaughterhouses and cutting                      Directive 71/118/EEC is modified as follows:
plants; whereas that Directive provided for health
 inspections to be carried out; whereas microbioligical                1. In Article 4 (1) the following words are added
 analyses covering inter alia equipment, utensils,                        after 'when carrying out ante mortem and post
 carcases and water, constitute a means for achieving                     mortem inspections': 'the microbiological control
 an objective assessment of the standard of hygiene;                      provided for in Article 5 (2a),'.
                                                                      2. In Article 5 the following paragraph is added after
Whereas microbiological control provides the health                       paragraph 2:
inspection service with useful information and thus
constitutes an effective means of checking and                            '2a
 improving the standard of hygiene in establishments;                     (a) As part of the hygiene control               of
whereas such control must provide the micro-                                  establishments the official veterinarian may,
biological guideline within the meaning of the                                where he considers it necessary, have recourse
Council Decision . . .; whereas the veterinary                                to microbiological control in order to gather
 inspection authority should therefore be granted the                         further information on which to base the
 authority to make microbiological checks compulsory                          assessment.
where it sees fit;
                                                                              Microbiological control may relate to:
Whereas the execution of microbiological control in                           — the utensils, fittings and machinery, in
 slaughterhouses and cutting plants must be based on                              order to determine the aerobic micro-
 the use of harmonized microbiological methods so                                 organism count,
 that comparable results can be obtained;
                                                                              — poultrymeat, in order to determine, at all
                                                                                  stages of the production line, the aerobic
Whereas provision should be made for employing                                    micro-organism,      enterobacteriaceae  or
Community microbiological methods for assessing the                               coliform count,
correct functioning of plant for chilling carcases by
immersion in a counter flow of water and its                                  — the water in the various items of
                                                                                  machinery, particularly the poultry carcase
                                                                                  chilling tanks, in order to determine the
(') OJ No L 55, 8. 3. 1971, p. 23.                                                aerobic micro-organism, enterobacteriaceae
(2) O J N o L 4 7 , 21.2. 1980, p. 8.                                             or coliform count.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 252/12                         Official Journal of the European Communities                          2.10.81
   (b) The results of a microbiological examination                The abovementioned methods and plan may
       must be assessed by comparing them with the                 be amended in accordance with that same
       results of previous checks.                                 procedure.
   (c) The microbiological methods to be employed                  The functioning of the plant for chilling by
       for microbiological control and the sampling                immersion in a counter flow of water shall be
       plan shall be adopted within six months from                regarded as acceptable in terms of hygiene
       the adoption of this Directive in accordance                where the geometric mean of aerobic micro-
       with the procedure laid down in Article 12a.                organisms and enterobacteriaceae found on
                                                                   the carcase at the point of exit from the
       The microbiological methods and the sampling                chilling tank is lower than the number found
       plan may be amended in accordance with that                 before immersion using the same method. The
       same procedure.                                             functioning of the various parts of the chilling
   (d) The results of the microbiological control shall            plant must be regarded so as to ensure a satis-
       be recorded.'                                               factory standard of hygiene.
                                                                   the results of the abovementioned checks shall
3. Paragraph 28b (i) of Chapter V of the Annex I is                be recorded.'
   amended to read as follows:
   '— the correct functioning of the chilling plant
       and its effect on the hygiene level shall be
       evaluated by comparing the contamination of                                  Article 2
       the carcases by aerobic micro-organisms and
       enterobacteriaceae before and after immersion.       Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu-
       Such comparison must be carried out when the         lations and administrative provisions necessary to
       plant is first brought into use and thereafter       comply with this Directive on 1 July 1982 and
       periodically and in any case each time any           immediately inform the Commission thereof.
       alterations are made to the plant. The microb-
        iological methods to be employed for such
       comparison and the sampling plan shall be
       adopted in accordance with the procedure laid                                Article 3
       down in Article 12a within six months from
       the adoption of this Directive.                      This Directive is addressed to the Member States.