The European Union (EU)'s Council Directive 96/23/EC and Commission Regulations 853/2004 and 954/2004 require each Member State to implement a sampling programme of meat and other foods of animal origin, in order to:
- Detect the illegal administration of prohibited substances to farmed animals
- Detect marine biotoxins in shellfish
- Control compliance with Maximum Residue Limits for veterinary medicines, pesticides and contaminants in farmed animals
In Northern Ireland, the AFBI's Veterinary Sciences Division undertakes this on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland (FSA-NI), whose policy is to prosecute offenders at all stages of food production wherever feasible.
The legislation also provides for the monitoring of internationally traded foods. Essentially, meat and other foods of animal origin are sampled for residues within the country where they were produced. (If this is outside the EU, the monitoring programme there has to conform to EU standards)
Under the EU's international Rapid Alert system (European Parliament and Council Regulation EC/178/2002), each member state informs the Commission immediately of an emerging problem. In the case of non-compliant residues in meat the Commission may take emergency control measures, such as requiring all shipments to be detained and sampled at Border Inspection Posts before entry, transfer between member states or export from the EU. In some cases, a total ban is implemented until the problem has been resolved. Recent examples include the temporary exclusion of Chinese honey and Thai chicken.
These measures are extremely disruptive to trade and production. They are not taken lightly, but the legislation prioritises consumer safety.
Note on EU Legislation:
The relevant Ministers from within each member country’s nationally elected government collectively draw up EU Council legislation. For example, the Council of Ministers of Agriculture or Food, with input from Health, will draw up most Council legislation relating to farmed animals. Commission legislation is drawn up by the relevant EU Commissioner. This is a semi-permanent internal EU appointment that parallels the senior civil servant’s role within a member country’s national government department; the Commissioner’s remit is the European rather than national interest. The Council and Commission are advised by national and European expert committees. The directly elected European Parliament’s legislative role is increasing. Rules on member countries’ vote allocation, decision-making and consensus continue to evolve.
Regulations and Decisions are directly applied within each country, but Directives instruct each country to legislate accordingly, if necessary. (Under the ‘subsidiarity’ principle, existing, national legislation is accepted if it is considered to be equivalent.).
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