Commission’s Midday Express, 12 June 2013

OFFICIAL CONTROLS - Conference on Animal, Plant and Control Package: Smart Rules for Safer Food

The Health and Consumers Directorate General of the European Commission is organising a conference on the “Animal, Plant and Control Package: Smarter rules for safer food”. This will take place in Brussels on 13 June 2013. The Commission recently adopted a legislative package which provides a modernised and simplified, more risked-based approach to the protection of health and more efficient control tools. Red-tape on processes and procedures will be reduced for farmers, breeders and food business operators (producers, processors and distributors) to make it easier for them to carry out their profession. Businesses will benefit from simpler, science and risk-based rules in terms of reduced administrative burden, more efficient processes and measures to finance and strengthen the control and eradication of animal diseases and plant pests. Consumers will benefit from safer products and a more effective and more transparent system of controls along the chain. The purpose of this conference is to provide an opportunity for the Commission to formally present these proposals to stakeholders and journalists; and, to encourage an open and transparent debate before the European Parliament and Council formally begin their deliberations.

For more information:

• Conference: See: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/pressroom/animal-plant-health_en.htm. For conference webstream, see: webstreaming
• For Commission proposals see:
  • COM (2013) 0265 - Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health, plant reproductive material, plant protection products and amending Regulations (EC) No 999/2001, 1829/2003, 1831/2003, 1/2005, 396/2005, 834/2007, 1099/2009, 1069/2009, 1107/2009, Regulations (EU) No 1151/2012, [….]/2013 [Regulation laying down provisions for the management of expenditure relating to the food chain, animal health and animal welfare, and relating to plant health and plant reproductive material], and Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/119/EC, 2008/120/EC and 2009/128/EC (Official controls Regulation)
  • COM (2013) 0264 - COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Healthier Animals and Plants and a Safer Agri-Food Chain A modernised legal framework for a more competitive EU