January 2003, pages 26-27 The European Commission proposes new rules for meat inspection. Tina Garrity reports

A new science and hazard-based system of meat inspection is on the way for the EU's meat plants under a revamped proposal for a regulation on the official control of foodstuffs of animal origin. The proposal also includes rules governing the inspection of bivalve molluscs, fish and milk.

The proposal for a regulation on official controls was part of the package of new food safety regulations announced by the Commission in 2000. Progress on the package, which includes the proposal to replace the 1993 food hygiene directive, has been slow. Since its launch, new scientific advice has become available on meat safety which, the Commission claims, allows for meat inspection to be organised on a basis that takes greater account of the hazards to human health. It also allows for the adoption of a "stable-to-table" approach with regard to meat safety. As a result, the original proposal on official controls was dropped last year and replaced by a new one. The current proposal consists of a brief set of articles followed by four detailed annexes as follows:

• Annex I Fresh meat
• Annex II Live bivalve molluscs
• Annex III Fishery products
• Annex IV Milk and milk products

Below EHJ takes a look at the proposed new rules for meat inspection.

Establishment approval

The draft regulation requires that wherever national or Community legislation requires an establishment to be approved, the competent authority must make an on-site visit and must not approve that establishment unless it complies with the relevant requirements of food law. New establishments could be granted conditional approval if they adhered to infrastructure and equipment requirements but must be revisited within three months to check compliance with other food law requirements before gaining final approval.

Each establishment would be given an approval number accompanied by codes indicating the type of product manufactured. Up-to-date lists of these would have to be maintained by each member state.

Role of the official veterinarian

The new rules would apply to slaughterhouses, game handling establishments and cutting plants. The proposal covers the tasks of the official veterinarian and their inspection team, and the decisions to be taken following controls. It specifies the rules for meat plants in general and goes on to specify particular requirements for different types of animal, including farmed and wild game.

Essentially, the role of the official veterinarian is to be one of auditing the operator's own procedures, both as regards good hygienic practice (plant hygiene, temperature control, control of incoming and outgoing meat etc) and the Haccp system which operators are required to implement and maintain. The official veterinarian would be tasked with checking that the Haccp-based procedures guaranteed that animals entering the slaughterhouse were visually healthy, properly identified, and carried the correct information from the originating holding etc.

In addition, they would be tasked with checking that meat coming out conformed with microbiological criteria laid down in EU legislation, was not contaminated, did not contain specified risk material (SRM), conformed with EU traceability requirements and so on. They would also audit the correct use of any national or Community good practice guides utilised. Other duties would include monitoring staff performance, with tests if necessary, verifying plant records, taking samples for laboratory analysis where necessary and documenting findings.

The official veterinarian would still undertake inspections, in addition to the audit, but in doing so, would have to take account of the audit results. Tasks to be performed by the official veterinarian would include checking the food chain information (for example, data concerning the origin and veterinary treatment of the animals), ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections, checks on SRM controls, laboratory testing and base-line studies on pathogens, checks on health and identification marking and on animal welfare and the communication of inspection results. Details of all these are laid out in the proposed text.

Action to be taken

The proposal lays down the action to be taken where deficiencies, non-compliance or irregularities are found. For example, animals not properly identified would not be accepted for slaughter. They would have to be killed separately and declared unfit for human consumption. Animals with hide, skin or fleece conditions suggesting an increased risk of meat contamination during slaughter would also have to be rejected. Once animals were inside the perimeter of the slaughterhouse they would not be allowed to leave alive except in the case of a serious breakdown of the slaughter facilities and then only to go directly to another slaughterhouse. The proposal contains a long list of meat which must be declared unfit for human consumption.

Veterinary auxiliaries

To assist them, the official veterinarian may have an inspection team consisting of veterinary auxiliaries. The proposal sets out what these auxiliaries may do and goes on to detail the frequency of controls to be applied. The nature and intensity of the official supervision would be based on a regular assessment of the public and animal health risks, the animal welfare aspects and the product suitability aspects related to the species and category of animals slaughtered, the type of process and the operator concerned. In the calculation of staffing on the slaughter line, a scientific approach must be followed, where appropriate. Under the proposal at least one official veterinarian would have to be present in slaughterhouses and game handling establishments throughout both ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection with some flexibility for small establishments and for poultry establishments where it would be based on a case-by-case risk analysis by the competent authority.

Staff inspections

Where a poultry or rabbit establishment operates good hygienic practices and Haccp-based procedures successfully for at least 12 months, the plant's own staff would, at the discretion of the competent authority, be allowed to carry out the duties of the auxiliaries. However, they would have to be trained and certified to the same level, and then supervised and regularly tested by the official veterinarian. Where performance deteriorated or the level of plant hygiene decreased, staff would be replaced by veterinary auxiliaries. The system would be entirely optional, ie member states could not force establishments to adopt it. The system may be extended to the pig and veal fattening sectors but only where the member state concerned had five years' experience of staff undertaking controls in poultry plants.

Professional qualifications

Finally, the proposal sets out the professional qualifications required to work as an official veterinarian and as a veterinary auxiliary. Tests for the former will be established in accordance with a forthcoming horizontal regulation on official feed and food controls in general. Details of what the test should cover are laid down in this proposal. Auxiliaries too would have to be trained and tested, as at present.

The proposal suggests they must undergo at least 600 hours of theoretical training, including laboratory demonstrations and at least 300 hours practical training under the supervision of an official veterinarian. The training would either be for red meat or for poultry. Details of the tests are laid down in the proposal. The CIEH is seeking clarification from the Food Standards Agency on the likely impact of this on the training of EHOs.

COM (2002) 377 final. Proposal for a regulation...laying down the specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption. OJ C 262E. 29.10.02.