Foodlaw-Reading

Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK

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Food Law News - EU - 2015

Council Minutes, 22 October 2015

HYGIENE - Live bivalve molluscs - Controls and microbiological criteria: Council discussions

The following is an extract from the minutes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting

The Council decided not to oppose the adoption of a Commission amendment to:

Regulation 854/2004 lays down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption. It provides that member states are to ensure that the production and placing on the market of live bivalve molluscs undergo official controls as described in Annex II thereto. The regulation also provides that the competent authority must classify production areas from which it authorises the harvesting of live bivalve molluscs according to the level of faecal contamination. In addition, Commission regulation 2073/20052 lays down the microbiological criteria for certain micro-organisms in particular a food safety criterion for E.coli on live bivalve molluscs. The Codex Alimentarius criterion for E. coli differs from the criterion contained in EU legislation. The amendment aligns the EU criterion on the Codex Alimentarius which is more likely to detect non-compliant batches.

This Commission regulation is subject to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. This means that now that the Council has given its consent, the Commission may adopt the regulation, unless the European Parliament objects.


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