EU sets out food traceability guidelines
food products across all member states.
This follows the passing of the General Food Law, which entered into force on 1 January 2005. The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, consisting of representatives of the Member States, agreed on this common guidance document to make harmonised implementation in all Member States easier.
The specific requirements covered in the guidance document include the traceability of food products, withdrawal of dangerous food products from the market, operator responsibilities and requirements applicable to imports and exports. And while welcomed by both the food industry and consumer groups, this drive towards complete supply chain traceability is nonetheless putting incredible pressure on food manufacturers, especially private-label processors.
"The new requirements in the EU food law include important elements like rules on traceability and the withdrawal of dangerous food products from the market," said Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection.
"Their effective implementation will benefit public health and make trade between EU Member States easier. The guidelines address many of the practical issues raised in recent months by food and feed business operators and will help both businesses and national authorities to implement the new requirements."
The new mandatory traceability requirement applies to all food, animal feed, food-producing animals and all types of food chain operators from the farming sector to processing, transport, storage, distribution and retail to the consumer. The guidance document lays down detailed implementing rules for operators.
Information on the name, address of producer, nature of products and date of transaction must be systematically registered within each operator's traceability system. This information must be kept for a period of five years and on request, it must immediately be made available to the competent authorities.
The drive towards complete supply chain traceability in Europe is inexorable. In addition to the legislation, retail giants are beginning rolling out RFID (radio frequency identification) mandates to all their suppliers.
As far as these retail giants are concerned, their primary motivation is building customer loyalty and trust. In driving through these traceability measures down the supply chain, they are putting into place guarantees that if there is ever a recall, then any problem could be contained quickly without losing credibility.
And the best way of ensuring this is to ensure that suppliers have full control. This is why retailers, as well as legislators, are leaning heavily on manufacturers to install technology that will guarantee complete traceability.
Indeed, the new EU guideline specifically defines the criteria that would trigger the withdrawal or recall of a dangerous product from the market. Situations where operators are required to inform competent authorities of this withdrawal are also specified.
Ultimately, the guideline underlines the fact that food manufacturers are responsible for the safety of the food that they produce and put on the market.
