HYGIENE - Discussions at the Standing Committee on Foodstuffs

The Commission presented a document containing the updated list of guides to good hygiene practices validated at national level by competent authorities of Member States. These guides are seen as an important part of applying the requirement of Directive 93/43/EEC on the hygiene of foodstuffs to different food sectors. Member States have much appreciated this initiative and encouraged the Commission to develop further this work. Some Member States suggested making these guides available in more than one language for consultation and a better use by all Member States and interested parties.

Member States were invited to communicate possible errors or changes in the list by 30 September 2001. A revised copy of the list will then be circulated at a next CPDA meeting. Once finalised, the Commission announced the intention to publish the list of guides to good hygiene practices on the SANCO web site.

(b) Transport of bulk liquid oils and fats by sea : Discussion on possible revision of the directive 96/3/EC.

The Commission summarised the background of the question in these terms: - Commission Directive 96/3/EC, derogating from certain provisions of Directive 93/43/EEC on the hygiene of foodstuffs, does not require dedicated transport but allows for oils and fats to be transported in bulk tanks which have previously been used to transport substances from a positive list (list of acceptable previous cargoes);

• article 4 of Directive 96/3/EC requires that it: "shall be reviewed where one or more Member States, or the Commission consider that amendments are necessary in order to take account of scientific or technical developments. In any case the Annex shall be reviewed within one year of the adoption of this Directive".
• after the adoption of that Directive, the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) released an opinion in which, for safety reasons, it is recommended to reconsider certain substances included in the list of acceptable previous cargoes.

Following this introduction, the Committee proceeded with an exchange of views on possible improvements of the current directive and, in particular, about the need to amend the annex containing the list of acceptable previous cargoes. These general conclusions have been drawn from the discussion:

• the Commission should consider as a priority the review of the list of substances authorised as acceptable previous cargoes, on the basis of an updated opinion of the SCF focused on substances in annex 2 of previous opinion on the matter;
• in this view, the Commission should address as soon as possible the question to the SCF and, on the basis thereof, submit a proposal for the modification of the annex of Directive 96/3/EC;
• as a second step, a working group of experts should be convened for examining in detail the possibility of further improving the Directive to ensure a higher level of protection;
• in this view, particular attention should be paid to the Codex framework and to the possibility of enlarging the scope of the directive to other aspects, such as storage;
• where necessary, other proposals for amending the directive should be submitted.