The European Commission adopted today a White Paper on Food Safety. The central goal of the European Commission is the achievement of the highest possible level of health protection for the consumers of Europe's food. The White Paper sets out a radical reform plan: a major programme of legislative reform is proposed to complete the EU´s "farm to table" approach as well as the establishment of a new European Food Authority. Achieving the highest standards of food safety in the EU is a key policy priority for the European Commission and the White Paper bears testimony to this priority. The guiding principle throughout the White Paper is that food safety policy must be based on a comprehensive, integrated approach. The Commission also decided today on allocation of food safety and industrial policy responsibilities.
The White Paper was presented today by David Byrne, Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner, and Erkki Liikanen, Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner. It represents the culmination of three months extensive work by the Commission since its appointment last September and builds on the consultation arising from the Commission's Green Paper on Food Law published in 1997.
Commenting on the launch, David Byrne said "This is a major initiative designed to promote the health of Europe's consumers by the establishment of world class food safety standards and systems. The proposals in the White Paper on Food Safety are the most radical and far-reaching ever presented in the area of food safety. They are, I believe, an essential prerequisite for Europe to have the highest possible standards in respect of food safety. Consumer confidence has been badly affected by the various food alerts and crises of recent years and months. I believe that our proposals in the White Paper should fundamentally address consumers' legitimate concerns in this regard with a view to restoring and maintaining confidence in food safety."
Erkki Liikanen said: "Today's initiative is aimed at achieving a double objective. By restoring and maintaining the confidence of European consumers in the safety of food in the EU, the programme launched by this White Paper will not only effectively increase the quality of the everyday-lives of Europeans, it will also boost the competitiveness of the European food industry."
Major White Paper Initiatives
1. A European Food Authority
The White Paper envisages the establishment of an European Food Authority based on the principles of the highest levels of independence, of scientific excellence and of transparency in its operations. Therefore the Authority must be guided by the best science, be independent of industrial and political interests, be open to rigorous public scrutiny, be scientifically authoritative and work closely with national scientific bodies.
The White Paper clearly identifies many weaknesses in the present system which it envisages would be addressed in the context of establishing a European Food Authority. Among the weaknesses identified are, lack of scientific support for the system of scientific advice, inadequacies in monito
..
The tasks of the authority will essentially concentrate on risk assessment and risk communication. Risk management, -including legislation and control, should remain the responsibility of the European institutions which are accountable to the European public. However, future extension of the competencies of the Authority should not be discounted in the light of experience of the Authority's operation, confidence gained, and the possible need to change the Treaty.
It is envisaged that the tasks of the Authority will comprise:
The White Paper is not prescriptive about all of the details concerning a Food Authority at the European level, and the Commission, therefore, has not yet proposed concrete resource figures for the Authority. However, it is clear that the efficacy of the Authority will ultimately depend on the adequacy, in terms of both size and quality, of the human, financial and physical resources allocated. It is also implicit that the location of the Authority should allow it to interact easily with all players in the risk analysis process.
It is envisaged that the Authority should be in place by 2002 once the necessary legislation has been enacted. Before finalising its proposals the European Commission is inviting all interested parties to give their views on the European Food Authority by the end April. A definitive legislative proposal would then be brought forward by the Commission in September of this year.
2. Food Safety Legislation
The White Paper proposes an action plan with a wide range of measures to improve and bring coherence to the Community's legislation covering all aspects of food products from "farm to table". It sets out over 80 separate actions that are envisaged over the period ahead and intends to close identified loopholes in current legislation. The new legal framework will cover animal feed, animal health and welfare, hygiene, contaminants and residues, novel food, additives, flavourings, packaging and irradiation. It will include a proposal on General Food Law which will embody the principles of food safety such as
3. Control of implementation of legislation
A comprehensive piece of legislation is proposed in order to recast the different control requirements. This will take into account the general principle that all parts of the food production chain must be subject to official controls. There is a clear need for a Community framework of national control systems, which will improve the quality of controls at Community level, and consequently raise food safety standards across the European Union. The operation of such control systems would remain a national responsibility. This Community framework would have three core elements.
Development of this overall Community framework for national control systems would clearly be a task for the Commission and the Member States working together. The experience of the EU´s Food and Veterinary Office (Dublin), which exercises the control functions at Community level, will be an essential element in its development.
4. Consumer Information
If consumers are to be satisfied that the action proposed in White Paper is leading to a genuine improvement in food safety standards, they must be kept well informed. The Commission, together with the new European Food Authority, will promote a dialogue with consumers to encourage their involvement in the new Food Safety policy. At the same time, consumers need to be kept better informed of emerging food safety concerns, and of risks to certain groups from particular foods. Proposals on the labelling of foods, building on existing rules, will be brought forward.
5. International dimension
The Community is the world's largest importer/exporter of food products. The actions proposed in the White Paper will need to be effectively presented and explained to our trading partners. An active role for the Community in international bodies will be an important element in explaining European developments in food safety.
Conclusion
The success of the measures proposed in this White Paper is intrinsically linked to the support of the European Parliament and the Council. Their implementation will depend on the commitment of the Member States. This White Paper also calls for strong involvement of the operators, who bear the prime responsibility for the daily application of the requirements for food safety.
Greater transparency at all levels of Food Safety policy is the thread running through the whole White Paper and will contribute fundamentally to enhancing consumer confidence in EU Food Safety policy.
Since public awareness of food safety issues has been raised recently through the dioxin and other food scares, it was considered that the Commissioner responsible for Health and Consumer Protection should have overall responsibility for all elements of the food chain. Accordingly, the Commission decided today to transfer all food safety matters to Commissioner Byrne. The Commission also affirmed that Commissioner Liikanen will be fully associated with proposals made in the domain of food legislation having regard to his enterprise and competitiveness responsibilities.
ANNEX
Translation of term "European Food Authority" in all languages