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Brussels, 30 April 1997
Consumer Health : towards a proper food policy The European Commission adopted a Communication on Consumer Health and Food Safety with the aim of introducing a proper food policy as announced by the Commission's President, Jacques Santer, before the European Parliament on 18 February 1997. The Commission has already separated responsibilities for legislation from those for scientific advice and control and put the latter under the responsibility of the Commissioner in charge of Consumer Policy and Health Protection, Emma Bonino. The staff of the relevant Directorate General (DG XXIV) will be strengthened with 263 officials, mostly from internal transfers and partly through new recruitments for which the Commission today made the corresponding budget proposals. In today's Communication, the Commission indicates that scientific advice will be sought from eminent and fully independent scientists, that their opinions and working methods will be accessible to all interested parties and that scientific committees will be regrouped and coordinated by a Scientific Steering Committee. Control and inspection will be pursued on the basis of priorities set under risk assessment procedures, a "plough to plate" approach covering the whole food chain, and formal audit procedures assessing national control systems. The new approach will be implemented through the Commission's Food and Veterinary Office which will be established in Ireland. The Commission will ensure a rapid follow-up of food safety emergencies through safeguard measures and a rapid alert system. For greater transparency, the Commission will open up the channels of communication and information among all parties concerned and towards the public.
Recent experience has clearly demonstrated that food safety is not only of concern to the consumer, but is also at the very root of a proper functioning of the market. Food safety will therefore also serve the interests of producers and those involved in processing and marketing of foodstuffs and relevant agricultural products.
To achieve these objectives the Commission has undertaken a radical reform of the departments dealing with consumer health. The Commission has in particular placed the management of all the scientific committees and responsibility for inspection and control under the authority of the Commissioner for consumer policy and health protection and has reorganised the relevant Directorate General (DG XXIV) to have the particular responsibility for consumer health.
From the point of view of financial resources, assistance is requested from the Budgetary Authority in order to meet the additional needs arising from the new approach. Following the audit report from the Commission's Inspectorate-General, in addition to the 96 posts transferred on April 1st to DG XXIV, it is necessary to dispose of further resources for an effective implementation of the new approach. These new resources are estimated at 166 posts. A part of these will be covered through internal transfers. Another part, that is to say 97 posts - which essentially correspond to specialised tasks of scientific, veterinary or phytosanitary nature - is requested to the Budgetary Authority through the Supplementary and Amending Budget (SAB).
This communication explains in detail the new approach of the Commission on consumer health and food safety, in particular with respect to scientific advice and to control and inspection.
Scientific Advice on Consumer Health: a proactive approach
In matters relating to the consumer health, scientific advice is of the utmost importance at all stages of the drawing up of new legislation and for the execution and management of existing legislation. This is also the case in other areas such as animal health and animal welfare. The Commission will use this advice for the benefit of the consumer in order to ensure a high level of healthprotection.
In reviewing its approach to scientific advice for consumer health protection the Commission will reinforce three main principles: excellence, independence and transparency.
The Commission will concentrate efforts to build a reliable and flexible structure to enable high quality and independent scientific advice as well as to ensure transparency and consideration of scientific advice in the legislative activities of the Community Institutions. The regrouping of all Scientific Committees, coordinated by a Scientific Steering Committee, will pave the way to greater synergy and an effective coordination.
Control and inspection: a new approach
The new approach for control and inspection will be based on the following three main orientations. Firstly, in view of the wide range of areas covered by legislation, and the limited resources available, risk assessment procedures will be introduced to allow control priorities to be established. Secondly, control activities will be reorganised to ensure that the whole of the food production chain is properly covered ("plough to plate" approach). Thirdly, the approach will be further developed through the general introduction of formal audit procedures, to allow an assessment of the control systems operated by the competent national authorities. The new approach will ensure the most cost effective use of resources, whilst respecting the principles of transparency and subsidiarity.
The Commission will implement this new approach through its Food and Veterinary Office. The Office, which will be moved to Ireland, will have as its principal missions the monitoring of the observance of food hygiene, veterinary and plant health legislation within the European Union and elsewhere, and to contribute towards the maintenance of confidence in the safety of food offered to the European consumer.
The Commission has prepared a detailed report on the reinforcement of resources needed to allow the proposed expansion of the control services to take place. A detailed account of the resource requirements for the full and effective implementation of this reorganisation is submitted to the Budgetary Authorities, in the form of a supplementary and amending budget for 1997.
The overall goal will be to provide a harmonised approach to control and inspection activities for all parts of the food production chain, through a managed programme based upon the careful targeting of inspection and control resources. Sufficient financial expertise and personnel resources must be made available if this goal is to be achieved. However, it must be emphasised that no control system can offer zero risk in terms of consumer health protection.
Close links will be maintained with the scientific committees to make sure that inspection and control activities are kept informed of the most recent developments in the relevant fields.
The Commission will ensure a rapid follow-up of emergencies related to consumer health. This will include action in respect of safeguard measures and the rapid alert system. Furthermore, information supplied by consumers and producers will be dealt with in the shortest delay.
The problems experienced because of the BSE crisis have demonstrated the need to involve in a more open fashion consumers and producers in all aspects of food production. The Commission, by bringing together the existing inspection services under a single Directorate General, with specific responsibilities for consumer interests and health protection, and through the action outlined in this paper, is contributing to this objective. To reinforce this undertaking, a number of initiatives are proposed such as: