Council Minutes, 27 October 2003

HYGIENE - Common Positions adopted by Council

The following is an extract from the minutes of the Environment Council Meeting of the 27 October 2003.

The Council adopted common positions on the three Regulations and a Directive concerning food and feed hygiene (doc. 12133/03 + ADD 1). These legislative texts, which fall under the co decision procedure, are part of the "Hygiene package" adopted by the Commission in July 2000.

The adopted texts are:

• a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffs
  
• a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (doc. 10543/1/02 + ADD 1)
  
• a Regulation of the European Parliament and of t he Council laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption (doc. 5420/1/03 + ADD 1)
  
• a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing certain Directives concerning food hygiene and health conditions for the production and placing on the market of certain products of animal origin intended for human consumption and amending Council Directives 89/662/EEC and 92/118/EEC and Council Decision 95/408/EC , (doc. 11583/03 + ADD 1, doc. 11584/03 + ADD 1).

The aim of the hygiene package is to provide a unified and consolidated Community legislation regarding both the rules for feed hygiene and food hygiene, consistent with the requirements laid down by the European Food Safety Authority. These texts should enable a tracability of the products from the producer to the consumer ("from farm to fork" approach) and a control at the main stages of production and processing by the setting of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system.