Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Comission consultation, 24 May 2019
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Commission consultation: COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) …/... of XXX amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/186 as regards the introduction into the Union of consignments from certain third countries, sampling procedures and reporting requirements by the Member States and amending Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 A copy of this consultation document is available on this site (click on image). For more details, see the Commission page at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2017-6259172_en. A draft Annex is also available in a separate document - see: Annex. Consultation closes: 21 June 2019. |
The following are the recitals from the draft regulation::
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/186 [see note 1 below] lays down specific conditions applicable to the introduction into the Union of food consignments from certain third countries due to microbiological contamination. In particular, it requires that each consignment of foods listed in Annex I to that Regulation is tested for certain microbiological hazards by the exporting third country and that the competent authorities of the Member States carry out checks to verify the absence of such hazards. In addition, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/186 requires Member States to submit to the Commission a report of all analytical results of official controls carried out by the competent authorities on consignments covered by that Regulation.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 [see note 2 below] provides for an increased level of official controls to be carried out on imports of the feed and food of non-animal origin listed in Annex I thereto. Sesame seeds (Sesamum seeds) from Sudan have been included in that Annex by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1142 [see note 3 below] and are therefore subject to an increased level of official controls since 1 July 2017.
Those increased controls confirmed the high frequency of non-compliance of sesame seeds from Sudan with microbiological safety, due to Salmonella spp. The import of those seeds constitutes therefore a serious risk to public health within the Union and it is therefore necessary to adopt Union emergency measures.
Guarantees from the competent authorities of exporting countries that those seeds have been produced in accordance with the hygiene provisions laid down in Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council [see note 4 below] are necessary to protect human health in the Union. In order to ensure harmonised enforcement of import controls across the Union, all consignments of such seeds should be accompanied by a health certificate, signed by the competent authorities of exporting third countries, and by the results of analytical tests guaranteeing that they have been sampled and analysed with satisfactory results for the presence of microbiological pathogens.
For the sake of transparency and consistency of the applicable rules, all specific conditions governing the import of sesame seeds from Sudan with regard to the presence of Salmonella should be set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/186. Therefore the entries for these seeds should be removed from Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 669/2009
In order to ensure harmonised sampling procedures for food consignments listed in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/186 both in analytical checks of such foods by the third countries prior to their export to the Union and in checks of the imports of the foods concerned into the Union at the designated points of entry (DPE), uniform sampling procedures should be laid down in accordance with the relevant standards of the ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and the guidelines of the Codex Alimentarius used as reference.
In accordance with Article 12 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/186, Member States are to submit biannually to the Commission a report of all analytical results on consignments of foods pursuant to Article 8 of that Regulation. Article 12 also sets out the type of data to be submitted in the report. With the view of administrative simplification, the submission of the report for the consignments of foods listed in Annex I should be reduced to one time per calendar year. In addition, data on checks of consignments of foods should be provided in an aggregated manner per food and country of origin instead of each consignment.
There is quite some overlap between Annexes I and II of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/186. For the sake of simplifications and clarity these two Annexes should be merged. Annex II can then be used to lay down the details on the sampling procedures and analytical reference methods referred to Article 4.
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/186 and Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 should be amended accordingly.
It is appropriate to introduce a transitional period for the certification of Sesame seeds from Sudan to take into account the consignments of goods shipped before the date of application of this Regulation.
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed.
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