IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HYGIENE PACKAGE IN UK

1
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HYGIENE PACKAGE IN UK

• Kenneth Clarke
• Veterinary Adviser
• Food Standards Agency
• TAIEX
• PRAGUE
• 21 JUNE 2005

2
FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY

• UK-wide non-ministerial Government Department
• Set up in 2000
• Took over food safety roles of Ministries of
  Agriculture and Health
• Guiding principles- putting the consumer first-
  being open and accessible- being an independent
  voice

3
FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY

• Responsibilities and activities
• Consumer protection - food safety -
  microbiological, chemical, radiological
• Consumer choice - labelling - nutrition - diet

4
FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY

• Central Competent Authority
• Policy
• Enforcement- Local Authorities (Environmental
  Health Officers)- Meat Hygiene
  Service (Official Veterinarians)

5
UK THROUGHPUT BY SPECIES 2003/2004

• Cattle under 30 months 1,800,000
• Pigs 8,000,000
• Sheep 14,500,000
• Poultry 800,000.000

6
OFFICIAL CONTROLS IN MEAT ESTABLISHMENTS

• Red meat slaughterhouses 351
• Red meat cutting premises 568
• Farmed game facilities 73
• White meat slaughterhouses 128
• White meat cutting premises 375
• Wild game premises 46
• Cold stores 256
• Total c. 1500

7
OFFICIAL VETERINARIANS OFFICIAL AUXILLIARIES

• MEAT HYGIENE SERVICE
• Official Veterinarians 350
• Official Auxilliaries 1180(Meat Hygiene
  Inspectors)
• Meat Technicians 280

8
NEW HYGIENE REGULATIONS

• H1 Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 Hygiene of
  foodstuffs
• H2 Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 Specific rules
  for food of animal origin
• H3 Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004 Official
  controls on products of animal originApply from
  1 January 2006

9
New Hygiene Regulations

• Risk-based
• Operator responsibility- primary producers
  recognised as FBOs - HACCP
• Whole chain - farm to fork - approach
• Separate rules for FBOs and competent authority

10
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HYGIENE REGULATIONS

• FSA Implementation project
• ?
• Meat hygiene implementation project
• ?
• Sub - groups
• Approvals, food chain information, industry
  guides etc
• Include industry, government officials, consumers

11
IMPLEMENTATION

• Legislation- National Rules- consultation
  period
• Establishment approval
• Industry Guides
• Official controls
• Food chain information

12
ESTABLISHMENT APPROVAL

• 853/2004Approval of Annex III premises
• Approved establishment veterinary official
  control
• UK currently c.1500 licensed meat establishments
  - slaughterhouses/cutting premises/cold stores
• Approval process for meat plants

13
RETAIL TO RETAIL

• New definition of final consumer
• H2 Art 1H2 applies unless...the supply of food
  of animal origin from the retail establishment is
  to other retail establishments only and, in
  accordance with national law, is a marginal,
  localised and restricted activity.
• In UK1500 premises under veterinary control8000
  butchers under LA control (c 80 of them also
  supply restaurants, pubs an other butchers
  shops)
• Marginal to include small quantity

14
NATIONAL GUIDES

• 852/2004. Member States shall encourage the
  development of national guides to good practice
  for hygiene and for the application of HACCP
  principles
• MEAT INDUSTRY GUIDE
• Draft guide - External agency
• Editorial board- industry representatives-
  enforcement representatives
• Consultation period

15
INDUSTRY GUIDE

• Design Facilities Water Supply,
  Maintenance, CleaningPest Control TrainingPer
  sonal Hygiene Hygienic productionWaste
  management Traceability Raw materials including
  live animalsIdentification and Health marking
  Wrapping and packaging Temperature Controls
  Transport Hygiene
• www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/Consultations/ukwidec
  onsults/foodsafetymeat2005

16
OFFICIAL CONTROLS

• Manual of Official Controls
• Instructions for official veterinarians-
  inspection tasks- audit tasks- enforcement
  policy
• Official Veterinarian Training- Regulations-
  audit- courses/cascade/training material

17
OFFICIAL VETERINARIAN TASKS

• Inspection
• food chain information
• ante-mortem
• animal welfare
• post-mortem
• SRM and animal by-products
• laboratory testing
• Audit
• GHP
• HACCP

18
POST-MORTEM INSPECTION

• In UK, traditionally done by Meat Hygiene
  Inspectors (OAs)
• Visual only inspection of pigs - do not expect
  application initially
• Slaughterhouse staff - poultry
• Recording of inspection findings

19
RECORDING POST MORTEM FINDINGS

• any disease or condition that might affect
  public or animal health, or compromise animal
  welfare
• OV to inform
• slaughterhouse operator
• veterinarian of holding of provenence
• FBO of holding of provenence
• Competent authority
• Animal disease surveillance system

20
RECORDING POST MORTEM FINDINGS

• Current system - 64/433 list
• Need recording system that- provides
  information for all recipients- is accurate and
  reliable- can work on fast slaughter lines
• 2 projects- information to be recorded-
  mechanisms for recording and communicating
  information

21
FREQUENCY OF AUDIT

• 854/2004 Article 4 (9)
• The nature and intensity of auditing tasks in
  respect of individual establishments shall depend
  upon the assessed risk.
• Risk assessment system
• process risk factors
• operator risk factors

22
FREQUENCY OF AUDIT

• Process risk factors
• Type of processSlaughterhousegtcutting premises
• Species
• Class of animal - young/adult
• Throughput
• Operator risk factors
• Confidence in management systems
• History of legislative compliance

23
MEAT-BORNE BACTERIAL HAZARDS

• www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/mhsmanual3.pdf

24
FOOD CHAIN INFORMATION (1)

• 852/2004 Primary Producers - records
• Animal feed
• Veterinary treatments - dates of administration
  and withdrawal periods
• Occurrence of diseases that may affect food
  safety
• Reports of previous post-mortem inspection
  findings
• Results of tests for zoonoses
• Production data where this may indicate the
  presence of disease
• Name and address of private vet

25
FOOD CHAIN INFORMATION (2)

• 853/2004 Slaughterhouse Operators must
• be provided with food chain information gt24 hrs
  before arrival
• check and act upon the chain information
• not accept animals onto premises unless they have
  been provided with chain information
• make chain information available to OVS

26
CHAIN INFORMATION (3)

• 854/2004 Official Veterinarian must
• check and analyse relevant chain information
• take this analysis into account when carrying out
  a-m and p-m inspection
• verify that animals are not slaughtered unless
  operator has received and checked chain
  information (possible exceptions)

27
CHAIN INFORMATION- ISSUES

• What Information?- public health benefit-
  operator/OV able to take action- different
  approach for each species
• How to provide?- avoid unnecessary bureaucracy-
  role of government/farm assurance/industry
  schemes- electronic data exchange

28
FOOD CHAIN INFORMATIONSPECIES DIFFERENCES

• Production methods
• Intensive/extensive
• individual animals/batches
• Zoonotic hazards - epidemiology
• salmonellae in poultry
• verotoxigenic E. coli in cattle
• Livestock industry structure
• integrated systems
• producer groups
• livestock markets (gt50 sheep)
• homogeneity of batches

29
FOOD CHAIN INFORMATIONIMPLEMENTING MEASURES

• 1. Poultry
• FCI most valuable for poultry
• system already in place
• 2. Pigs
• needed for Trichinella testing and visual only
  inspection
• industry schemes in operation - Salmonellae,
  animal health information
• 3. Cattle
• some FCI already required - age (BSE), TB, BR
• 4. Sheep
• cost/benefit analysis?

30
(No Transcript)