Irish focus on consumer safety in EU25

Next month the European Union will embrace ten new member states into her arms. As the seat of the European presidency Ireland heard last week that tighter EU food controls, tougher enforcement measures, and heightened traceability for all foodstuffs are on the agenda for the enlarged Europe.

Over 200 delegates from some 33 European countries were in Dublin to participate in the two day conference, A New Agenda for Official Food Controls​, at Dublin Castle that brought together national experts from food control agencies throughout the EU and accession countries, along with some Balkan States, to address common issues associated with harmonised enforcement of food regulations.

Addressing delegates Alan Reilly, acting chief executive of Ireland's food safety authority echoed a recurrent comment that failure to properly control food imports at the 'new' borders may have disastrous effects on consumers' health and general interests within the EU.

He suggested that the EU's proposed regulation on Official Feed and Food Controls lay down new rules that could help solve this problem by controlling imports into the community, in particular for foods of non-animal origin.

"At the heart of the problem is the lack of a harmonised community approach to the design and development of national food control systems, but the proposed EU Regulation on Official Feed and Food Controls will address this,"​ said Reilly.

But, he warned, "it is imperative that the new accession countries have robust controls similar to the current EU Member States, otherwise it will be like having the back door ajar when heating a room."

Under the proposed regulation, official controls on food and feed will be structured so that they are integrated at all stages of production and in all sectors, using the farm-to-fork principle.

National control authorities will have to meet a number of operational criteria that must ensure their efficiency, effectiveness and impartiality. They must also demonstrate and verify 'in a documented and transparent manner' that they are providing and using their resources in an appropriate manner to protect consumer health.

There are also plans for the Food and Veterinary office of the European Commission to audit national food safety control plans and to subject these to independent scrutiny to ensure that the authorities achieve their objectives.

According to Reilly, the new regulations will streamline and reinforce existing control systems but will involve stricter enforcement mechanisms.

"Tougher enforcement measures will for the first time in European legislation include provisions for criminal sanctions,"​ said Reilly, adding that controls must uniformly ensure that food produced, distributed, consumed or exported in each state, meets the highest standards of food safety and hygiene.

Under the new Regulation on Official Feed and Food Controls due to come into force in 2005, each country will have to produce emergency plans as well as a multi-annual food and feed control plan to be updated every year, therefore making them more accountable and transparent.

In addition, under Regulation 178 of 2002, from 2005 every food business in the EU will be legally obliged to have systems in place to guarantee traceability of foodstuffs. This traceability will ensure that every food business maintains records of all ingredients for products supplied to them and their origin.

"From 2005, food business will for the first time be legally obliged to take steps to withdraw products from the market when they are considered unsafe and they will be obliged to inform consumers when they do this and why they are doing it,"​ continued the FSAI's acting chief executive.

On 1 May the ten accession countries - Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia - will join the European Union bringing the number of consumers from 382.4 million to 456.6 million.