Regulation 2004/882 - Official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 165/1

Feed and food should be safe and wholesome. Community legislation comprises a set of rules to ensure that this objective is attained. These rules extend to the production and the placing on the market of both feed and food.

The basic rules with regard to feed and food law are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 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 (4).

In addition to those basic rules, more specific feed and food law covers different areas such as animal nutrition including medicated feedingstuffs, feed and food hygiene, zoonoses, animal by-products, residues and contaminants, control and eradication of animal diseases with a public health impact, feed and food labelling, pesticides, feed and food additives, vitamins, mineral salts, trace elements and other additives, materials in contact with food, quality and compositional requirements, drinking water, ionisation, novel foods and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Community feed and food law is based on the principle that feed and food business operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution within the businesses under their control are responsible for ensuring that feed and food satisfy the requirements of feed and food law which are relevant to their activities.

Animal health and animal welfare are important factors that contribute to the quality and safety of food, to the prevention of the spreading of animal diseases and to a humane treatment of animals. The rules covering these matters are laid down in several acts. These acts specify the obligations of natural and legal persons with regard to animal health and animal welfare as well as the duties of the competent authorities.

The Member States should enforce feed and food law, animal heath and animal welfare rules and monitor and verify that the relevant requirements thereof are fulfilled by business operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution. Official controls should be organised for that purpose.

It is therefore appropriate to establish at Community level a harmonised framework of general rules for the organisation of such controls. It is appropriate to assess in the light of experience whether such a general framework functions properly, in particular in the area of animal health and welfare. It is therefore appropriate for the Commission to present a report together with any necessary proposal.

As a general rule this Community framework should not include official controls with regard to organisms harmful to plants and plant products since these controls are already adequately covered by Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000 on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and...