Report on meeting of Commission Working Group on food hygiene legislation: 25 May 2009

Proposed amendments to the hygiene regulations

Proposed Regulations SANCO 4449/2009 and SANCO 4456/2009 considered for a third time:

• Food chain information provisions are now acceptable.
• Member States that wanted a broader application of the provisions to transport meat from poultry and lagomorphs above temperature were asked to provide more details.
• The Commission noted Member States concerns about the application of toxin limits to processed bivalve molluscs and will refer them back to Paolo Caricato.
• Provisions relating to crocodile meat will be put back into the reflections paper to allow for consideration of parallel requirements for official controls. Member States are asked to answer some specific questions on this by 10 June, in time for the next meeting on 2 July.

Proposed extension of certain transitional measures

• Proposed Regulation SANCO 1733 considered again. Internal Commission agreement on provisions relating to import controls on "composite products" is still outstanding.
• The Commission is adamant that all Member States progress towards the accreditation of laboratories undertaking trichinella testing. The intention is to put the proposed transition period of four years to June SCOFCAH for vote in order to be certain of getting it adopted before expiry of the current transition period at the end of this year.

Commission reflection paper and non-paper on live bivalve molluscs (LBMs)

• Not discussed. Amended reflections paper to be considered at next meeting.

Temperature requirements – German non-paper

• Varying degrees of Member States support for the idea of better organising and possibly harmonising the current requirements for food products. Member States were asked to indicate whether they would like to participate in a restricted group to consider the issue further.

• In response to a Member States request for information on the proposals on the labelling of frozen foods and traceability requirements (SANCO 1489/2007 and SANCO 1490/2007). Commission repeats what was said at previous meeting and undertakes to find out more. (Not reported further).
• In response to a request from a Member States, the Commission agrees to circulate the latest versions of the Commission guidance on regulations 852/2004 and 853/2004 although these cannot yet be published on the Commission website. (Not reported further).
• UK point in relation to farmed game will be included in the next version of the reflections paper. UK to write explaining the issue and including a proposal (see below).

Date of next meeting
Commission Working Group: 2 July

Agenda items 1 and 2: Proposed amendments to the hygiene regulations (docs SANCO 4449/2009 rev 1 and SANCO 4456/2009 rev 1)

Food chain information
The Commission explained that the amendment to the last paragraph meant that all information received by the food business operator (FBO) had to be given to the official veterinaran (OV).

Temperature requirements for meat of poultry and lagomorphs
The Commission explained that the only change from the previous version was to replace the reference to "specific products" with "foie gras" since this was held to be the only product in question. Some Member States preferred a broader application, since this would be with the authorisation of the competent authority. A show of hands indicated the majority of Member States wanted wording that paralleled the provisions for red meat. The Commission indicated it would reflect further but asked all Member States to indicate the types of products for which this requirement was necessary.

Wild game
The provisions on wild game had been moved back to the reflections paper to allow for specific consideration at the next meeting of the outcomes of the workshop convened by the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic was invited to give a presentation to the next meeting.

Live bivalve molluscs, echinoderms and tunicates
In response to a question from a Member States, the Commission confirmed that the classification provision would only relate to microbiological parameters – the requirement biotoxin monitoring remained. There was some discussion on whether to include echinoderms and tunicates (the Commission agrees this as some are filter feeders) and whether to exclude gastropods (further evidence to be submitted to the Commission by Member States still wanting gastropods to be included).

In relation to the proposal concerning the closure of packages destined for retail, some Member States had varying degrees of difficulty with what was proposed. The Commission asked whether the requirement could be clearer if a distinction were drawn between the large bulk packs going to retail outlets to be split and those packages already intended for the final consumer. The Commission would consider further but its intention was to require that the large (bulk) packages should be closed.

Fishery products and processed bivalve molluscs

There were no comments on the proposals relating to the addition of additives to fishery products nor the changed wording in relation to fish initially frozen in brine. In relation to the changed wording concerning the toxin levels with which processed bivalve molluscs had to comply, a number of Member States disagreed with the Commission approach. It was felt there was a case for delaying action until the promised opinion on all toxins was available later in the year. If a product which complied with the limits when raw was cooked, after which it no longer complied, then there was no change in the amount of toxin which might be consumed by an individual. There could therefore be a case for expressing the limits on a dry weight basis. There were in any case real difficulties with whether the levels in cooked product could be detected reliably at that level. The Commission undertook to report these concerns back to Paolo Caricato for further consideration.

Gelatine and collagen
The Commission indicated that it was still waiting to hear from industry representatives about whether lagomorph skins were routinely used in processing. This would be considered again when a response was received.

Crocodile meat
The Commission reported that the majority of Member States were in favour of harmonised controls on crocodile meat and that research indicated that eight Member States were importing it direct from eight third countries (non-EU countries). The Commission would however be moving the provisions back to the reflection paper to allow for consideration of the parallel provisions on ante and post mortem inspection. In addition to the issue of microbiological criteria (which would be considered at the next meeting of that working group on 17 June) there were a number of issues which Member States were asked to reflect on and respond to the Commission by 10 June:

• Should the controls extend to the order Crocodilia, including crocodiles, alligators and gharials (Indian alligators)?
• Should the requirements apply to both farmed and ranched animals?
• Some third countries require freezing of crocodile meat – would this be acceptable for (eventual) Member State production?

OIE listed diseases
This was the only item in SANCO 4456/2009 not covered in parallel in discussion of SANCO 4449/2009. The Commission explained how the change from the previous wording was intended to deal with the concern that not all OIE listed diseases were of significance in public health terms.

Agenda item 3: Exchange of views on updated reflection paper and non-paper on live bivalve molluscs
Held over to next meeting.

Agenda item 4: Proposed draft Commission Regulation laying down transitional arrangements (doc SANCO/1733/2008)
There continued to be internal issues to be resolved in relation to import controls. Substantive discussion on Article 3 would therefore not be sought. It was agreed that a transitional period in relation to compositional standards needed to be provided for until such a time they could be taken into the proposal on labelling. The substantive issues were, therefore, the proposed move to a transition period of four years and the provision relating to the accreditation of laboratories within slaughterhouses undertaking trichinella testing.

The proposed provision reflected the particular circumstances of laboratories in slaughterhouses and it was for that reason that it was framed as drafted. Member States should be in no doubt that they had to comply and that while more time was being given, this was not something to be postponed indefinitely. Member States had to be aware that the Commission Legal Services had not yet endorsed the period of transition (four years) and it was possible that a reduced period would be insisted on.

A number of Member States sought clarification of particular circumstances in their countries, but the message remained essentially the same – there was no exception to the requirement and Member States who have not accredited their laboratories must make progress with doing so. The Commission explained the proposal would go to June SCOFCAH for vote. While it would in theory be possible for a vote to be taken at the July meeting and the measure still be adopted in time, it was prudent to work on the basis of earlier adoption.

Referring to Article 2, a Member States questioned the scope of the exemption for the direct supply by the producer of small quantities of poultrymeat etc, compared to what was covered in Regulation 199/2008 concerning zoonoses. The Commission responded that that transition was only intended to be for fresh meat. There was not ostensibly any problem with the two provisions being different since they occurred within different legal frameworks and served different purposes.

Agenda item 5: Temperature requirements – German non-paper
Germany introduced its paper which drew together all the current references in the hygiene legislation to temperature requirements and indicated those for products which it suggested could be drawn out and put in one place under the aegis of Article 4 of Regulation 852. It was suggested that there might be some scope for rationalising these requirements. Germany felt that it might be useful to discuss these and reminded the meeting its concern originally was in relation to their application to imports. The Commission suggested it was not going to be possible to produce a single document covering all temperature requirements for food since these occurred across a span of legislation, including DG Agri’s marketing standards, and in relation to quick frozen food. Member States were invited to indicate by 10 June whether they wanted to be involved in a limited working group to look further at this.

Any Other Business: UK request in relation to the certification of slaughter and bleeding of farmed game
The UK outlined the problems that would be encountered on expiry of the current transition measure in relation to the certification of slaughter and bleeding of farmed game. If steps were not taken, the industry had indicated the additional costs would be in the order of 85€-265€ per OV visit. The intention was not to seek to extend the transition provisions but to adopt measure with similar effect. This would involve deploying a competent, licensed shooter with verification by the OV. This would be in line with the developments in relation to animal welfare requirements currently being adopted. There were parallels in relation to the slaughter of domestic species where, despite the OV full time presence in the slaughterhouse, the bleeding of each individual animal is not ‘certified’ by the OV and in the case of wild game where there are no officials present during the hunting and officials rely on the hunter’s declaration. A number of Member States agreed with the UK and indicated their support for legislative change. It was agreed that the UK would supply something to be included within the next iteration of the reflection paper and Member States would be invited to comment by 10 June.