1. Regional Seminar for OIE National Focal Points on Animal Production Food Safety
Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety
Alberto Mancuso
Abu Dhabi, 14 January 2014

2. CONTENTS Principles of food safety legislation Responsibilities: FBOs
Responsibilities: Competent Authorities
Collaboration between FBOs and Competent Authorities, examples and suggestions
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

3. COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE VETERINARY SERVICES AND INDUSTRY
A clarification on role and responsibilities of FBOs and Competent Authorities is necessary to understand where there could be a «collaboration»
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

4. PRINCIPLES OF A MODERN FOOD SAFETY SYSTEM
Horizontal approach
“Stable to table” principle
Objective-oriented
Risk-based
Food safety responsibility: food business operator
Traceability

5. VETERINARY SERVICES AND INDUSTRY
In the European legal framework, a clear separation of responsibilities is foreseen
VETERINARY SERVICES
INDUSTRY
shall ensure that foods satisfy the requirements of food law and
shall verify that such requirements are met
shall enforce food law, monitor and verify that the relevant requirements of food law are fulfilled by FBOs
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

7. FOOD SAFETY IS A RESULT OF SEVERAL FACTORS
Legislation should lay down minimum hygiene requirements
Official controls : to check food business operators’ compliance
Food business operators: operate food safety procedures based on the HACCP principle
Food Business Operators become directly part of the system
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

8. SEPARATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES IN A MODERN FOOD SAFETY SYSTEM
implementation of food safety programmes in the companies
INDUSTRY
primary responsibility for food safety rests with the food business operator
implementation of HACCP principles, together with the application of GHP, should reinforce food business operators’ responsibility
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

9. SEPARATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES IN A MODERN FOOD SAFETY SYSTEM
VETERINARY SERVICES
Verification of systems applied by the food business operators
HACCP is a tool to help FBOs attain a higher standard of food safety
The HACCP system should not be regarded as a method of self-regulation and should not replace official controls
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

10. WHEN FBO COULD/SHOULD COLLABORATE WITH COMPETENT AUTHORITY?
Traceability
Registration/approval of food establishments
Withdrawal and recall of non compliant food
Guides to Good Practice
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

11. TRACEABILITY
necessary to establish a comprehensive system of traceability within food businesses so that targeted and accurate withdrawals can be undertaken or information given to consumers or control officials
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

12. TRACEABILITY
REG. 178/02
Food traceability shall be established at all stages of production, processing and distribution
FBOs shall be able to identify any person from whom they have been supplied with a food
This information shall be made available to the competent authorities on demand
FBOs shall have in place procedures to identify the other businesses to which their products have been supplied
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

13. REGISTRATION/APPROVAL OF FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS
The registration of food establishments and the cooperation of food business operators are necessary to allow the competent authorities to perform official controls efficiently
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

14. REGISTRATION AND APPROVAL
FBOs shall cooperate with the Competent Authorities
FBO shall notify the Competent Authority of each food establishment under its control, with a view to the registration of each such establishment
FBOs shall ensure that the Competent Authority always has up-to-date information on establishments (including significant changes and closure of a food establishment)
FBOs shall ensure that establishments are approved by the Competent Authority, following at least one on-site visit, when approval is required
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

15. REGISTRATION AND APPROVAL OF ESTABLISHMENTS
FBOs shall place products of animal origin on the market only if they have been prepared and handled in establishments that the Competent Authority has registered or, where required, approved
FBOs shall cooperate with the Competent Authorities.
FBOs shall ensure that an establishment ceases to operate if the Competent Authority withdraws its approval
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

16. WITHDRAWAL AND RECALL OF NON COMPLIANT FOOD
REG. 178/02
If a FBO considers that a food is not in compliance with the food safety requirements, it shall immediately initiate procedures to withdraw the food from the market where the food has left his/her control, and inform the Competent Authorities thereof
Where the product may have reached the consumer, FBO shall inform the consumers of the reason for its withdrawal, and if necessary, recall from consumers products already supplied to them
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

17. WITHDRAWAL AND RECALL
Withdrawal: The removal of an unsafe food from the market before it has reached the consumer
Recall: The removal of an unsafe food from the market when it may have reached the consumer and the notification of the consumer

18. FOOD INJURIOUS TO HUMAN HEALTH
REG. 178/02
FBO shall immediately inform the Competent Authorities if it considers that a food which it has placed on the market may be injurious to human health
FBOs shall inform the Competent Authorities of the action taken to prevent risks to the final consumer
Food business operators shall collaborate with the Competent Authorities on action taken to avoid or reduce risks posed by a food which they supply or have supplied
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

19. GUIDES TO GOOD PRACTICE
REG 852/04
GUIDES TO GOOD PRACTICE
Member States (CAs) shall encourage the development of national guides to good practice for hygiene and for the application of HACCP principles
Guides to good practice shall be developed and disseminated by food business sectors, in consultation with representatives of parties whose interests may be substantially affected, such as Competent Authorities and consumer groups
Member States shall assess national guides in order to ensure that their contents are practicable and that they are suitable as guides to compliance

20. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
REG 852/04
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
Food business operators shall:
put in place, implement and maintain procedures based on the HACCP principles
provide the Competent Authority with evidence of their compliance
ensure that any documents describing the procedures are up-to-date at all times
retain documents and records for an appropriate period
A. Mancuso - Harmonizing national legislation on Food Safety

21. AN EXAMPLE OF «COOPERATION»
REG 853/04
OBJECTIVES OF HACCP-BASED PROCEDURES
The procedures must guarantee that each animal (or lot):
is properly identified
is accompanied by the relevant information
does not come from a holding subject to a movement prohibition for reasons of animal or public health
is clean
is healthy, as far as the FBO can judge
is in a satisfactory state as regards welfare
In the event of failure: FBO must notify the Official Veterinarian and take appropriate measures

22. AN EXAMPLE OF «COOPERATION»
FOOD CHAIN INFORMATION
REG 853/04
FBOs operating slaughterhouses must request, receive and check food chain information in respect of all animals
FBO must not accept animals unless they have been provided with food safety information (status of the holding, animals’ health status, treatments, diseases, analysis, etc.)
FBOs deciding to accept animals after evaluating food chain information must make it available to the Official Vet.
FBO must notify the Official Veterinarian of any information that gives rise to health concerns
If any animal arrives without food chain information, the operator must immediately notify the Official Veterinarian
A. Mancuso - Harmonizing national legislation on Food Safety

23. SUGGESTED COLLABORATION
Results of microbiological and chemical tests carried out in the framework of HACCP verification could be transmitted from FBOs to Competent Authorities
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

24. SUGGESTED COLLABORATION: INTEGRATION OF OWN-CHECK RESULTS IN THE OFFICIAL CONTROL SYSTEM
This could provide very useful information to CA
Possibility to properly address official controls and prioritise activities and sampling
Optimization in the use of resources
Promptly identification of emerging hazards
Data to be used for risk assessment
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

25. INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Food establishments register (registered/approved)
Official control activities
Public laboratories (LIMS)
Private laboratories (own-checks)

26. INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety

27. THANK YOU! E-mail a.mancuso@izs.it
A. Mancuso - Importance of collaboration between the Veterinary Services and industry to promote animal production food safety