Summer Academy 2021

Legal and institutional background of food safety in

Germany and Europe

Niklas Schulze Icking

International Food Safety Policy
National Codex Contact Point
Berlin, Germany
Contact: [email protected]

www.bmel.de
 Content

1. Institutional and Legal Bases of Food Safety – Nat’l/ International

2. EU and German Food Legislation

3. EU and German Food Inspection System

4. EU Food Safety Principles
5. International Cooperation

11-Aug-21 Slide 2
Institutional Basis of worldwide Food Safety

11-Aug-21 Slide 3
 Legal bases of Food Safety

International:

SPS-Agreement

European Union: Germany:

11-Aug-21 Side 4
 SPS-Agreement and International Standards

→Produce non-compliant with international standards sufficient for

justifying barriers to trade
→Codex Alimentarius, OIE, IPPC acknowledged standard setting
organs
→Codex-standards relevant for WTO dispute settlement
→strict requirements according to science-based risk assessment

OIE = Office International des Épizooties = World Orgainsation for Animal Health, established in 1924
IPPC = International Plant Protection Convention, established in 1952

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Harmonised food safety legislation in the EU

• Regulation (EC) Nr. 178/2002

„Basic regulation“

• Regulation (EU) Nr. 2017/625

(former 882/2004)
„Control regulation“

• Regulation (EC) Nr. 852/2004

„Hygiene regulation“

• Regulation (EC) Nr. 1169/2011

„Information regulation“
© www.d-maps.com
etc.

Aug-21 slide 6
EU and German food safety system at a glance

Aug-21 slide 7
Responsibilities of the BMEL in the area of Food Safety

• Participation in European legislation

• National legislation
• Representing Germany in international organisations,
e.g. FAO, OIE, Codex Alimentarius
• Negotiating bilateral agreements, e.g. veterinary certificates
(Health certificates for Export)
• Advising Länder authorities on food safety issues

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The responsibilities of the 16 Länder

→ The Länder play an active role in the

law-making process at federal and
EU level via their participation in the
Bundesrat , the federative
constitutional organ

→ The Länder are in charge of

implementing and enforcing food
safety law

→ The Länder are responsible for

control and monitoring activities

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Institutional basis of Food Safety in Germany

16 federal states
295 districts
107 independent urban municipalities
429 food control authorities
400.000 samples / year
5 samples / 1000 inhabitants
1 Mio. laboratory tests / year

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 German / EU Food Safety system at a glance

EFSA EU Commission Directorate F

European Food Safety Directorate General for EU Food and
Authority Health and Consumers Veterinary Office

BfR BVL
German Federal
German Federal
Office of Consumer
Institute for Risk
Protection and
Assessment BMEL Food Safety

16 Länder (state) Federal Government/

Federal Research Ministries Länder Working
Institutes
Groups

429 Districts and independent urban Municipalities

Self-monitoring of Food Production, Processing and Retail Enterprises

Food Industry
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 Objectives of Food Safety Legislation

Codex Alimentarius
EU Regulation 178/2002
German Food and Feed Law

Preventing the Providing

Protecting human
deception of accurate
health
consumers information

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 The 7 Basic Principles of Food Safety

1. The basic principle of food safety “from farm to fork”

2. The basic principle of producer responsibility
3. The principle of traceability
4. Independent scientific risk assessment
5. Separating risk assessment from risk management
6. The precautionary principle
7. Transparent risk communication

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7 Basic Principles of Food Safety at a glance

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7 Basic Principles of Food Safety at a glance

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 Responsibility of the Länder:
Monitoring along the food chain

Plant Protec-
Animal Feed Veterinary
tion Monitoring Food Monitoring
Controls Authorities
Service

Food
Animal Industry/ Retail /
Feed Farming Abattoirs Crafts Restau-
Industry and rants
Trades

Producers` Duty of Care

Authorities` Traceability

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1 Principle: Food Safety “From farm to Fork”

 Safeguarding Food Safety along the entire food chain

 EU General Food Regulation No 178/2002

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2 Principle of Producer Responsibility:

 Food and Feed business operators are responsible for the safety of
their product

→ Quality assurance systems

→ Self-monitoring

→ Risk oriented controls by authorities

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3 Principle of Traceability:

→ Thorough documentation of the production chain

→ Rapid identification of the source of problems and flows of goods

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4 + 5 Separation of Risk Assessment and Risk Management:

→ Risk assessment:
Science-based and independent
(EU: EFSA; Germany: BfR)

separated from

→ Risk management:
Government and competent authorities
(EU: COM - Directorate F (FVO);
Germany (federal level): BMEL and BVL)

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6 The Precautionary Principle:

→ Precautionary yet appropriate measures for minimizing risks in

cases of scientific uncertainty

→ Re-assessment with new scientific findings

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7 Principle of Transparent Risk Communication:

→ Viable networking of involved authorities

→ European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF)

→ Information of the public via media

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Risk management – Administrative and Public Communication

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Close cooperation with our direct neighbours
Frequent bilateral meetings of DGs:

Berlin
Warszawa

Paris

Aug-21 slide 24
 Bilateral cooperation in Food Safety

Joint Declaration of Intent with State Administration for Market Regulation

(SAMR)

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Continuously improving Food Safety:

44th Session
November 2021
virtually

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Thank you for your attention!

For more Information

Brochure

Understanding Food Safety

https://www.bmel.de/EN/Services/Publications/PublicationsFood/publicationsFood_node.html

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