Private standards under scrutiny by the European Commission

At the invitation of DG SANCO, on the 17th of June PIP participated in a round table discussion in Brussels on public-private partnerships in the field of food safety. Mr Michael Scannell noted that the Commission is conscious of the fact that operators are being weighed down by the high number of overlapping private standards, a burden that is particularly heavy to bear for the countries of the South.

Even though compliance with private standards has in general helped to improve compliance with the official food safety controls, a greater transparency and harmonisation of these standards is necessary and is already the subject of a number of initiatives (e.g. the Global Food Safety Initiative). However, as the private standards tend to cover a wider scope than food safety, there is a danger that they cloud the food safety issue for the general public. Participants at the meeting (CIAA, CELCAA, FRESHFEL, UGAL, UECBV, IFOAM, ECPA, CLITRAVI and others) highlighted the importance of appointing highly qualified auditors and of developing international guidelines for certification systems.

The European Commission (DG SANCO) intends to publish a report on the application of the “Hygiene Package”, and the impact on food safety of these regulations coming into force. In addition, following the series of round table events organised by DG SANCO, a conference on the food safety regulations and private standards is under consideration.