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The protection of consumers and industry against a possible dioxin contamination will soon improve significantly thanks to a Commission proposal, which was endorsed by the Member States at the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH).
In particular, four measures, which are to be implemented throughout the EU by mid next year, will further reduce the risk of contamination in the food chain.
The following concrete measures, adopted today by SCoFCAH, are based on the outcome of that investigation:
• Feed businesses processing crude vegetable oils, manufacturing products derived from oils of vegetable origin and blending fats, will have to be approved, and not only registered, by the competent authority.
• Fats intended for feed and food will now be strictly segregated during their production and transport from fats intended for technical use for example in the chemical industry. This is to take into account the experience gained from the application of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) based systems. Additionally, the labelling of the products must explicitly mention their intended use. These provisions will help prevent products unfit for feed use entering the food chain.
• An EU harmonised plan with mandatory minimum testing for dioxin depending on the risk inherent to the products, will be introduced. The testing will focus on the risky products at the moment they enter the feed chain, thus ensuring the efficient use of resources. This will facilitate the detection of non-compliant cases and the enforcement of feed law. Thus, fewer contaminated products will enter the food chain. At the same time, this will reduce the exposure to dioxin of EU citizens. Additionally, the test results on dioxin prevalence will enable the feed business operators to improve their HACCP system. And if the experience gained will require adjustments along the way, the review clause of the monitoring obligation for the industry allows for that.
• All laboratories are obliged to directly notify the competent authorities of any excessive findings of dioxin.
Friday october 21, 2011/ European Commission/ European Union.
http://ec.europa.eu
