Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Commission consultation, 5 January 2021
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Commission consultation: Draft COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION supplementing Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards certain categories of goods exempted from official controls at border control posts and amending Commission Decision 2007/275/EC See also: Draft Annex. |
The document has been issued as part of a consultation exercise. The Commission has provided a consultation page. For more details, see the consultation page at: Food safety - composite food products exempt from official checks at EU borders. The consultation page closes on 2 February 2021.
The following is the introduction to the draft regulation:
CONTEXT OF THE DELEGATED ACT
Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Official Controls (OCR) establishes the framework for official controls and other official activities to verify the correct application of Union agri-food chain legislation. This includes official controls performed on animals and goods entering the Union from third countries.
Article 48(h) of the OCR provides that certain categories of animals and goods referred to in Article 47(1) of the OCR coming from third countries might be exempted from official controls at border control posts. According to Article 77(1)(k) of the OCR, arrangements for specific official controls might be laid down in delegated acts for those animals and goods exempted from official controls at border control posts.
Commission Decision 2007/275/EC contains the list of composite products which are exempted from official controls at border control posts upon entry into the Union.
The new requirements for entry into the Union of composite products laid down in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/625, which will apply from 21 April 2021, will be no longer based on the quantities of processed products of animal origin (expressed in percentage of ingredients of the composite product), but rather on the risk linked to the composite product itself.
The purpose of this Regulation is to lay down cases and conditions under which certain low risk shelf-stable composite products not containing processed meat should be exempted from official controls at border control posts. The Member State competent authorities should perform official controls on such composite products regularly, on a risk basis and with appropriate frequency, at the place of destination, the point of release for free circulation in the Union, or the warehouses or the premises of the operator responsible for the consignment.
For these reasons, it is necessary to establish a new list of certain shelf-stable composite products not containing processed meat and exempted from official controls at border control posts, lay down rules concerning official controls on those products and amend Decision 2007/275/EC accordingly.
