1. TRACEABILITY REQUIREMENTS UNDER EU GENERAL FOOD LAW
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

2. EU Commission Delegation Cairo www.eu-delegation.org.eg
Context
Regulation EC/178/2002 of 28 January 2002 also known as the EU General Food Law
Aims at ensuring a high level of health protection
Aims to harmonise existing national requirements to ensure effective functioning of the internal market
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

3. EU Commission Delegation Cairo www.eu-delegation.org.eg
Context
To achieve these goals the Regulation
Establishes common principles and responsibilities
Lays down the general principles governing food and feed safety
Establishes the European Food Safety Authority
Applies to all stages of the production, processing and distribution of food and feed
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

4. EU Commission Delegation Cairo www.eu-delegation.org.eg
Context
General Requirements of Food Law
Food and feed safety requirements
Presentation requirements (labelling, packaging…)
Food and feed business operator responsibilities
MS responsibilities
Traceability
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

5. EU Commission Delegation Cairo www.eu-delegation.org.eg
Traceability
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

6. EU Commission Delegation Cairo www.eu-delegation.org.eg
Traceability – Why?
Recent food crisis (BSE, dioxins) demonstrated that the identification of the origin of feed and food is of prime importance for the protection of consumers
Risk management tool to ensure accurate withdrawals from the market and to provide information to consumers and operators
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

7. Traceability - Definition
Laid down in Article 18 of the Regulation
Means the availability to trace and follow a food, feed, animal or substance through all stages of production, processing and distribution
Necessary to ensure that food or feed business, including an importer, can identify at least the business from which inputs have been supplied
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

8. Traceability - Requirements
To have systems and procedures in place enabling operators to identify the immediate supplier and immediate customer of their products
To establish a link Supplier-Product (which products supplied from which suppliers)
To establish a link Customer-Product (which products supplied to which customers)
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

9. Traceability - Implementation
All relevant information for traceability purpose should be kept
First category of information (necessary)
Name, address of supplier and nature of products supplied
Name, address of customer and products delivered
Date of transaction/delivery
Second category of information (highly recommended)
Volume or quantity
Batch number, if any
More detailed description of the product
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

10. Traceability - Implementation
First category information shall be immediately available to the Authorities
Second category information shall be available as soon as reasonably practicable
No minimum period of time for keeping records is foreseen
There are no standardised systems foreseen
Mechanism adopted by operators shall ensure the delivery of the needed information upon request from the Authorities
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

11. Traceability – Exporters
Does not have extra-territorial effect outside the EU
The requirement covers all stages of production, processing and distribution in the EU, from the importer to the retail level
Requires that food/feed importer complies with the requirements
Exporters from third countries are not legally required to fulfil the traceability requirement
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

12. Traceability – Exporters
Requests from EU business operators to their trading partners are part of the food business’s contractual arrangements and not of requirements established by the EU Regulation
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo

13. EU Commission Delegation Cairo www.eu-delegation.org.eg
TRACEABILITY REQUIREMENTS UNDER EU GENERAL FOOD LAW End of Presentation
22/09/2018
EU Commission Delegation Cairo