News
12.10.2017 - Foods
The new EU Control Regulation 2017/625 – what does it mean for food companies?
The importance of food safety and hygiene has significantly increased in Europe in recent years. On one hand, consumers expect safe and high-quality food; on the other hand, they also demand more transparency and information. Therefore, several EU countries (so far 10 countries) have already introduced "traffic light or smiley systems." In Germany, the federal states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia have also adopted corresponding state laws.
To provide a legal basis for these issues across the entire EU in the future, the EU Control Regulation 2017/625 was enacted this year. It is already in effect, but there are transitional arrangements, so it will be fully applicable from December 14, 2019. Besides aspects of food safety and hygiene, other key areas include monitoring self-inspections, traceability, ensuring transparency and consumer information, as well as combating food fraud. This aims to restore consumer trust in the integrity of the food chain.
New elements of the EU Control Regulation 2017/625 include:
- the surveillance has been extended to agriculture, so the entire food chain is subject to the same monitoring authority
- more transparency in the conducted controls (including regarding the results!). This means that monitoring results can be published in certain cases in the future
- fees for monitoring controls can also be introduced during regular inspections
- targeted combating of food fraud and conducting regular, unannounced, and risk-oriented controls
- penalties for food fraud must be adjusted or increased depending on the fraud value or the company’s turnover
- EU reference centers on animal welfare are to be established. This also applies to centers for testing the authenticity and integrity of the food chain
- new rules for cooperation in cross-border problem cases
- reports on the activities and results of the regulatory authorities must be published at least once a year
- Member States can also make public the results of food monitoring controls regarding individual inspections. However, the business operator must be given the opportunity to comment on these results. These comments must also be considered during publication
- Member States can introduce evaluation systems for retailers, manufacturers, restaurants, etc. These should straightforwardly and clearly inform consumers about the extent to which companies meet legal food requirements, such as traffic light or smiley systems
The listed contents or innovations represent only a part of the contents of the new regulation. The "Questions and Answers Catalogue" of the EU Commission (ec.europa.eu) also provides a good overview.
Other important EU regulations 178/2002, 852/2004, 853/2004 remain unaffected by the EU Control Regulation for the time being. This means that the requirements for hygiene, HACCP, and microbiological self-inspections remain unchanged for now.
The new EU Control Regulation further reinforces the trend toward more self-inspection and responsibility for food companies. The EU is establishing legal grounds for topics such as the publication of food monitoring control results, fees for regular monitoring inspections, and hygiene traffic lights.
Therefore, it will be increasingly important for food companies to comply with hygiene regulations and other legal food requirements in the future. We can competently and practically support you in these tasks. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your account manager.