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PURPOSE: to
lay down health rules as regards animal by-products not intended for human
consumption LEGISLATIVE
ACT: Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the
Council laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived
products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC)
No 1774/2002 (Animal by-products Regulation) CONTENT: the
Council adopted this Regulation modernising the EU rules for animal by
products, following a first reading agreement with the European Parliament.
The new Regulation is aimed at introducing more risk-proportionate rules and
at clarifying the rules on animal by-products, as well as their interaction
with other EU legislation. The Regulation
lays down public health and animal health rules for animal by-products and
derived products, in order to prevent and minimise risks to public and animal
health arising from those products, and in particular to protect the safety
of the food and feed chain .Animal by-products are products of animal origin
which are not intended for human consumption. They arise mainly during the slaughter
of animals for human consumption, during the production of products of animal
origin such as dairy products, and in the course of the disposal of dead
animals. Past crisis related to outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease or the
spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) have shown that the improper
use of certain animal by-products pose a risk to public and animal health,
the safety of the food and feed chain and consumer confidence. More than 15
million tonnes of animal by-products are produced in the EU every year. The main
points of the Regulation are as follows: · the concept of an "end point"
in the manufacturing of animal by-products is introduced, after which the
processed products are no longer subject to the animal by-products Regulation,
as some potential risks have been eliminated for example by heat or chemical
substances. Instead, the general rules on product safety apply. Under the current
rules, almost all material from animals which does not enter the food chain,
is subject to the rules on animal by-products; · the distinction between foodstuffs and animal
by-products is clarified by confirming that operators need to make an
irreversible decision, if products are destined for purposes other than human
consumption. This means that once a product has become an animal by-product,
it must not re-enter the food chain; · modification of the current classification 1 of
animal by-products by Comitology procedure is permitted. In addition, certain
animal by-products, which so far have been classified by default as category
2 material but which have been proven to pose no major risks, are
reclassified as belonging to category 3, so as to allow their use for certain
feeding purposes. For any other animal by-products which are not listed under
one of the three categories, the classification by default as category 2
material is maintained for precautionary reasons; · a registration obligation is introduced for
operators who transport animal by-products, in order to strengthen
traceability; · the coherence between the Regulation on animal
by-products and other EU legislation (for instance the legislation on food
hygiene and waste) is improved by clarifying when the appropriate legislation
applies. This removes unnecessary burdens for operators (for example, approvals
of slaughterhouses and dairy plants under food and feed legislation are
recognised). The current
classification scheme is maintained. This means
that animal by-products of category 1 (injurious to health) and category 2
(unfit for human consumption) must not be placed on the market as food,
whereas material of category 3 (which comply with certain rules regarding
their possible use for human consumption) may be used for certain feeding
purposes. The basic
principles of Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 on animal by-products,
however, remain unchanged. These include: - the
classification of animal by-products into three categories according to
the degree of risk involved;
- the
exclusion of animal by-products which are unfit for human consumption
from the feed chain of farmed animals;
- the
intra-species recycling ban (material derived from animals is not to be
fed to animals of the species from which it is derived);
- the rule
that only material from animals which have undergone veterinary
inspection is to enter the feed chain for farmed animals;
- the ban on
feeding of catering waste to farmed animals, in particular to pigs.
The technical
details for the Regulation will be laid down in a separate legal act, to be adopted
by comitology procedure. This implementing regulation will be prepared in the
next year, so that it can enter into application simultaneously with the new
basic regulation. ENTRY INTO
FORCE: 04/12/2009. APPLICATION:
from 04/03/2011.
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