Historial: INTRODUCTION EC 852/2004

Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (1) (hereafter “the Regulation”) was adopted on 29 April 2004. It lays down general hygiene requirements to be respected by food businesses at all stages of the food chain. Since the adoption of the Regulation, the Commission has been requested to clarify a number of aspects thereof. This document aims to follow-up these requests.

The Commission’s Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General has held a series of meetings with experts from the Member States in order to examine and reach consensus on a number of issues concerning the implementation of the Regulation.

In the interest of transparency, the Commission has also promoted discussion with stakeholders so as to allow different socio-economic interests to express an opinion. To this end the Commission has organised a meeting with representatives from producers, industry, commerce and consumers to discuss issues related to the implementation of the Regulation.

It was considered that these meetings and discussions should continue in the light of the experience gained by the full application of the Regulation from 1 January 2006.

It should be noted that matters relating to the non-compliance of national legislation with the Regulation remain outside the scope of this exercise and will continue to be dealt with in accordance with established Commission procedures.

The present document aims to assist all players in the food chain to better understand and to apply correctly and in a uniform way the Regulation. However, this document has no formal legal status and in the event of a dispute, ultimate responsibility for the interpretation of the law lies with the Court of Justice.

For a complete understanding of the different aspects of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, it is essential to be also familiar with other parts of Community legislation, and in particular with the principles and definitions of :

• Regulation (EC) No 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 (2).(also referred to as the General Food Law),

• Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare (3), Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 of 15 November 2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs (4), and

• Commission Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005 of 5 December 2005 laying down implementing measures for certain products under Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 and for the organisation of official controls under Regulations (EC) No 854/2004 and No 882/2004, derogating from Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and amending Regulations (EC) No 853/2004 and No 854/2004 (5).

A separate guidance document on Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 has been established.
(See http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/food/foodlaw/guidance/index_en.htm)

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(1) OJ No L 226, 25.6.2004, p. 3
(2) OJ No L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1
(3) OJ No L 191, 28.5.2004, p. 1
(4) OJ No L 338, 22.12.2005, p. 1
(5) OJ No L 338, 22.12.2005, p. 27