"Food" includes drink, chewing gum and any substance, including water, intentionally incorporated into the food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment. In all Member States it shall enjoy the widest powers granted by law to legal persons. 1. Although this principle exists in some Member States and areas of food law, in other areas this is either not explicit or else responsibility is assumed by the competent authorities of the Member State through the control activities they carry out. It is however necessary to provide for sufficient time for the adaptation of any conflicting provisions in existing legislation, both at national and Community level, and to provide that, pending such adaptation, the relevant legislation be applied in the light of the principles set out in the present Regulation. Food and feed business operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution within the businesses under their control shall ensure that foods or feeds satisfy the requirements of food law which are relevant to their activities and shall verify that such requirements are met.2. The Authority shall exercise vigilance in order to identify at an early stage any potential source of divergence between its scientific opinions and the scientific opinions issued by other bodies carrying out similar tasks.2. Food or feed which is placed on the market or is likely to be placed on the market in the Community shall be adequately labelled or identified to facilitate its traceability, through relevant documentation or information in accordance with the relevant requirements of more specific provisions. Until then, and by way of derogation from paragraph 2, existing legislation shall be implemented taking account of the principles laid down in Articles 5 to 10. It is necessary to reorganise these Committees to ensure greater scientific consistency in relation to the food supply chain and to enable them to work more effectively. It shall analyse the content of such messages with a view to providing the Commission and the Member States with any information required for the purposes of risk analysis. Control of commitment and payment of all expenditure and control of the existence and recovery of all the Authority's revenue shall be carried out by the Commission's financial controller. 5. COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 178/2006. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 2001/57/EC (OJ L 208, 1.8.2001, p. The Authority shall use all the information it receives in the performance of its mission to identify an emerging risk. Four of the members shall have their background in organisations representing consumers and other interests in the food chain.The list drawn up by the Commission, accompanied by the relevant documentation, shall be forwarded to the European Parliament. This information shall be made available to the competent authorities on demand. (http://www.color.org) /S /GTS_PDFA1 /Type /OutputIntent >> ] (61) Recent food crises have also shown the benefits to the Commission of having properly adapted, more rapid procedures for crisis management. In this event, it shall immediately inform the other Member States and the Commission. Without prejudice to more specific provisions of food law, the labelling, advertising and presentation of food or feed, including their shape, appearance or packaging, the packaging materials used, the manner in which they are arranged and the setting in which they are displayed, and the information which is made available about them through whatever medium, shall not mislead consumers. The Management Board shall adopt the Authority's internal rules on the basis of a proposal by the Executive Director. 1. (19) OJ L 214, 24.8.1993, p. 1. Therefore, revised procedures should take into account the Authority's responsibilities and should provide for its scientific and technical assistance in the form of advice in the event of a food crisis. The Executive Director shall approve all financial expenditure of the Authority and report on the Authority's activities to the Management Board. The Executive Director shall be the legal representative of the Authority and shall be responsible for: (a) the day-to-day administration of the Authority; (b) drawing up a proposal for the Authority's work programmes in consultation with the Commission; (c) implementing the work programmes and the decisions adopted by the Management Board; (d) ensuring the provision of appropriate scientific, technical and administrative support for the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels; (e) ensuring that the Authority carries out its tasks in accordance with the requirements of its users, in particular with regard to the adequacy of the services provided and the time taken; (f) the preparation of the statement of revenue and expenditure and the execution of the budget of the Authority; (h) developing and maintaining contact with the European Parliament, and for ensuring a regular dialogue with its relevant committees. The Authority may be requested by the Commission to provide scientific or technical assistance in any field within its mission. Such tasks may include in particular assistance to the Commission for the establishment or evaluation of technical criteria and also assistance to the Commission in the development of technical guidelines.2. The general plan shall also specify the practical procedures necessary to manage a crisis, including the principles of transparency to be applied and a communication strategy. The Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels shall act by a majority of their members. The Authority shall forward to the Member States and the Commission appropriate recommendations which might improve the technical comparability of the data it receives and analyses, in order to facilitate consolidation at Community level.5. 1. 0000096210 00000 n 0000118627 00000 n Provisions for the purpose of applying the requirements of this Article in respect of specific sectors may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 58(2). (28) OJ L 317, 6.11.1981, p. 1. The Commission shall set up a crisis unit immediately, in which the Authority shall participate, and provide scientific and technical assistance if necessary. For the same reason the Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health should also replace the Standing Committee on Plant Health in relation to its competence (for Directives 76/895/EEC(13), 86/362/EEC(14), 86/363/EEC(15), 90/642/EEC(16) and 91/414/EEC(17)) on plant protection products and the setting of maximum residue levels. (4) There are important differences in relation to concepts, principles and procedures between the food laws of the Member States. A food business operator responsible for retail or distribution activities which do not affect the packaging, labelling, safety or integrity of the food shall, within the limits of its respective activities, initiate procedures to withdraw from the market products not in compliance with the food-safety requirements and shall participate in contributing to the safety of the food by passing on relevant information necessary to trace a food, cooperating in the action taken by producers, processors, manufacturers and/or the competent authorities. 5. The Authority shall ensure wide access to the documents which it possesses.2. It shall provide independent information on all matters within these fields and communicate on risks.3. Moreover, the auditing of accounts should be undertaken by the Court of Auditors. startxref The Authority shall forward to the Member States and the Commission appropriate recommendations which might improve the technical comparability of the data it receives and analyses, in order to facilitate consolidation at Community level. The Authority shall issue a scientific opinion:(a) at the request of the Commission, in respect of any matter within its mission, and in all cases where Community legislation makes provision for the Authority to be consulted;(b) on its own initiative, on matters falling within its mission.The European Parliament or a Member State may request the Authority to issue a scientific opinion on matters falling within its mission.2. Feed shall not be placed on the market or fed to any food-producing animal if it is unsafe.2. Where the Authority identifies a potential source of divergence, it shall contact the body in question to ensure that all relevant scientific information is shared and in order to identify potentially contentious scientific issues. 0000054283 00000 n 0000039480 00000 n Steps should also be taken to help avoid diverging scientific opinions and, in the event of diverging scientific opinions between scientific bodies, procedures should be in place to resolve the divergence or provide the risk managers with a transparent basis of scientific information. The Management Board of the Authority shall examine the conclusions of the evaluation and issue to the Commission such recommendations as may be necessary regarding changes in the Authority and its working practices. Regulation (EC) No. Emergency measures for food and feed of Community origin or imported from a third country. N° L 31 of 1 February 2002). (28) Experience has shown that the functioning of the internal market in food or feed can be jeopardised where it is impossible to trace food and feed. (21) In those specific circumstances where a risk to life or health exists but scientific uncertainty persists, the precautionary principle provides a mechanism for determining risk management measures or other actions in order to ensure the high level of health protection chosen in the Community. It shall forward them without delay to the Commission and the budgetary authority.Article 44Implementation of the Authority's budget1. The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be three months.Article 59Functions assigned to the CommitteeThe Committee shall carry out the functions assigned to it by this Regulation and by other relevant Community provisions, in the cases and conditions provided for in those provisions. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety6; Sample 1 Sample 2 0000040234 00000 n /OutputIntents [ << /DestOutputProfile 77 0 R /Info (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) Where there are no specific Community provisions, food shall be deemed to be safe when it conforms to the specific provisions of national food law of the Member State in whose territory the food is marketed, such provisions being drawn up and applied without prejudice to the Treaty, in particular Articles 28 and 30 thereof.Article 15Feed safety requirements1. 6. 4. However, in eMERGENCIES, the Commission may provisionally adopt the measures referred to in paragraph 1 after consulting the Member State(s) concerned and informing the other Member States. Information, available to the members of the network, relating to a risk to human health posed by food and feed shall in general be available to the public in accordance with the information principle provided for in Article 10. "food business" means any undertaking, whether for profit or not and whether public or private, carrying out any of the activities related to any stage of production, processing and distribution of food; 3. The Management Board shall meet at the invitation of the Chair or at the request of at least a third of its members. 0000003699 00000 n The Executive Director may also ask the Advisory Forum for advice on the prioritisation of requests for scientific opinions.4. 1. These measures shall specify, in particular, the specific conditions and procedures applicable to the transmission of notifications and supplementary information. There shall be open and transparent public consultation, directly or through representative bodies, during the preparation, evaluation and revision of food law, except where the urgency of the matter does not allow it. Insert free text, CELEX number or descriptors. The crisis unit shall keep the public informed of the risks involved and the measures taken.CHAPTER VPROCEDURES AND FINAL PROVISIONSSECTION 1COMMITTEE AND MEDIATION PROCEDURESArticle 58Committee1. (24) It is necessary to ensure that food and feed exported or re-exported from the Community complies with Community law or the requirements set up by the importing country. Where the Authority identifies a potential source of divergence, it shall contact the body in question to ensure that all relevant scientific information is shared and in order to identify potentially contentious scientific issues.3. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety. (5) OJ L 229, 30.8.1980, p. 11. It shall also adopt a revisable multi-annual programme. 76). The Authority shall provide the technical and logistic support necessary for the Advisory Forum and provide the Secretariat for its meetings. In determining whether any food is unsafe, regard shall be had:(a) to the normal conditions of use of the food by the consumer and at each stage of production, processing and distribution, and(b) to the information provided to the consumer, including information on the label, or other information generally available to the consumer concerning the avoidance of specific adverse health effects from a particular food or category of foods.4. Where a substantive divergence over scientific issues has been identified and the body in question is a Member State body, the Authority and the national body shall be obliged to cooperate with a view to either resolving the divergence or preparing a joint document clarifying the contentious scientific issues and identifying the relevant uncertainties in the data. Steps should also be taken to help avoid diverging scientific opinions and, in the event of diverging scientific opinions between scientific bodies, procedures should be in place to resolve the divergence or provide the risk managers with a transparent basis of scientific information. 3. (35) The Authority should be an independent scientific source of advice, information and risk communication in order to improve consumer confidence; nevertheless, in order to promote coherence between the risk assessment, risk management and risk communication functions, the link between risk assessors and risk managers should be strengthened. Without prejudice to their rights and obligations, the Community and the Member States shall: (a) contribute to the development of international technical standards for food and feed and sanitary and phytosanitary standards; (b) promote the coordination of work on food and feed standards undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organisations; (c) contribute, where relevant and appropriate, to the development of agreements on recognition of the equivalence of specific food and feed-related measures; (d) give particular attention to the special development, financial and trade needs of developing countries, with a view to ensuring that international standards do not create unnecessary obstacles to exports from developing countries; (e) promote consistency between international technical standards and food law while ensuring that the high level of protection adopted in the Community is not reduced.