Byrne announces three pillar approach to food safety

Member enlargement is the biggest political priority for the European Commission and a desire to ensure that EU food safety standards are safeguarded and that the health of present and future citizens is protected remains a top priority, claimed the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, David Byrne, speaking this week in Brussels at the launch of Green Week.

"In spite of all of the excellent work undertaken to upgrade establishments, there will be many that will not be ready in time. Candidate countries will seek more time - transitional periods as the jargon goes - for upgradings to be carried out. We have to ensure to the maximum extent that the safety of our citizens is assured."​

Byrne used the occasion at Green Week to outline his upcoming proposals on strengthening and streamlining the implementation of food controls in the European Union.

"Clearly the first line of defence is responsibility by the food processor. This is now a legal requirement written into our new General Food Law. However, I remain convinced that Member States must play a much more active and effective role in policing the implementation of food safety legislation,"​ said David Byrne.

"To this end, I will be proposing a harmonised Community-wide approach to the design and development of national control systems. This will involve establishing operational criteria for the national control authorities, qualification and training requirements for their staff, and the implementation of documented control procedures."​

He stressed that this new approach, devolving much more responsibility and autonomy on Member States in line with the principle of subsidiarity, needs to be complemented with an effective range of sanctions at Member State level and at Community level.

" I believe we must consider whether or not criminal sanctions would not be appropriate in certain cases, in addition to administrative remedies."​

According to Byrne this new approach to official controls is adding a "third pillar" in the Community's food safety policy. The first pillar is an effective range of food safety legislation. The second pillar being the European Food Safety Authority, to be established this year, to identify risk and communicate with the public.

"It is only when we have all three pillars in place can we be reasonably assured that we can have a safe supply of food from farm to table, "​ concluded David Byrne.

Only time will tell whether the "third pillar", established in both new and old Member States, will be effectively implemented and crucially, maintained.