Food Safety Procedures and Food Law Principles in European Union

With a view to adopting a comprehensive, integrated "farm to table" approach, legislation must cover all aspects of the food production chain: primary production, processing, transport, distribution through to the sale or supply of food and feed. At all stages of this chain, the legal responsibility for ensuring the safety of foodstuffs rests with the operator and a similar system should apply to feed business operators. The White Paper on Food Safety emphasizes the need for a policy underpinned by a sound scientific basis and up-to-date legislation. The EU legislation is designed to restore consumer confidence in the wake of recent food-related crises, with all the interested parties having a part to play: the general public, non-governmental organizations, professional associations, trading partners and international trade organizations. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) enhances the current scientific and technical support system and its main task is to provide assistance and independent scientific advice, and to create a network geared to close cooperation with similar bodies in the Member States. The recent food crises have shown that it is necessary to improve the procedures relating to food safety. For this reason, the scope of the rapid alert system was extended to cover animal feed and to identify measures to be taken in emergencies and for crisis management. A Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health is also being set up to replace the existing committees