NRCS, Anual Regulatory Conference International Food Control - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

NRCS, Anual Regulatory Conference International Food Control Systems?

Pretoria, 18 September.

Agust Jonsson E-mail: agust.jonsson@centrum.is Tel: +46 70 322 8027

International Background for the Presentation

• Requirements in the WTO agreement on

Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, SPS Agreement

• International conformity assessment systems

defined in international standards and best practises.

Problem:

• How is it ensured that consumers are supplied

with food that is safe to eat — “safe” at the level the legislator considers appropriate?

• At the same time, how can it be ensured that

unnecessary health and safety regulations are not used as an excuse to protect domestic producers from foreign competition?

• Through SPS measures

Technical regulations All other measures Standards Conformity assessment procedures

Protection of animal, plant,

• r human

health or life

From

Food born risks and animal and plant carried diseases

TBT SPS

Scope of the WTO TBT and SPS Agreements

Types of measures Objectives Based on:

The SPS Agreement

• The Agreement sets out the basic rules for food

safety and animal and plant health requirements.

– It allows countries to set their own requirements and permits the governments to maintain appropriate SPS protection – It specifies that regulations must be based on scientific findings and should be applied only to the extent that they are necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health; – Laws and regulations shall not unjustifiably discriminate between countries where similar conditions exist. T – It clarifies which factors should be taken into account when risks are assessed

SPS Agreement

• WTO member countries are encouraged to use

the standards, guidelines and recommendations developed by the relevant international bodies (codex, IPPC, OIE) whenever they exist. However, members may use measures which result in higher levels of health protection, so long as their measures are based on an appropriate assessment of risks and the approach is consistent, not arbitrary.

SPS Measure, definition

• Sanitary or phytosanitary measure - Any measure

applied;

a) to protect animal or plant life or health within the territory of the Member from risks arising from the entry, establishment or spread of pests, diseases, disease-carrying organisms or disease-causing

• rganisms;

b) to protect human or animal life or health within the territory of the Member from risks arising from additives, contaminants, toxins or disease-causing organisms in foods, beverages or feedstuffs; c) to protect human life or health within the territory of the Member from risks arising from diseases carried by animals, plants or products thereof, or from the entry, establishment or spread of pests;

• r

d) to prevent or limit other damage within the territory of the Member from the entry, establishment or spread of pests.

GATT - TBT - SPS

Objective

Protect Human Life Protect Animal Life Protect Plant Life Protect A Country Any other

• bjective

From risks arising from….

• additives
• contaminants
• toxins
• plant or animal

carried diseases

• additives
• toxins
• pests
• diseases
• disease-

causing

• rganisms
• pests
• diseases
• disease-

causing

• rganisms
• damage caused

by entry, establishment

• r spread
• f pests

SPS TBT

SPS Measures, definitions, cont.

• Sanitary or phytosanitary measures include all relevant

laws, decrees, regulations and requirements

• Procedures including, inter alia, end product criteria;

processes and production methods; testing, inspection, certification and approval procedures;

• Quarantine treatments including relevant requirements

associated with the transport of animals or plants, or with the materials necessary for their survival during transport; provisions on relevant

• Statistical methods, sampling procedures and methods
• f risk assessment; and packaging and labelling

requirements directly related to food safety.

Purpose of SPS Measures

• To ensure that food is safe for consumers
• To prevent the spread of pest or diseases among animals

and plants.

• The SPS measures can take many forms such as;

– general legal requirements including administrative provisions – requiring products to come from diseases - free areas, – inspection of products, – specific treatment or processing of products, – setting allowable maximum levels of protection of pesticide residues or limiting the permitted use of additives in food.

• SPS measures apply to domestically produced food or

locally animal and plant diseases as well as to products coming from other countries

CONTROL, INSPECTION AND APPROVAL PROCEDURES Annex C of the SPS Agreement

ANNEX C CONTROL, INSPECTION AND APPROVAL PROCEDURES1 1. Members shall ensure, with respect to any procedure to check and ensure the fulfilment of sanitary or phytosanitary measures, that: (a) such procedures are undertaken and completed without undue delay and in no less favourable manner for imported products than for like domestic products; (b) the standard processing period of each procedure is published

• r that the anticipated processing period is communicated to

the applicant upon request; when receiving an application, the competent body promptly examines the completeness of the documentation and informs the applicant in a precise and complete manner of all deficiencies; the competent body transmits as soon as possible the results of the procedure in a precise and complete manner to the applicant so that corrective action may be taken if necessary; even when the application has deficiencies, the competent body proceeds as far as practicable with the procedure if the applicant so requests; and that upon request, the applicant is informed of the stage of the procedure, with any delay being explained;

(c) information requirements are limited to what is necessary for appropriate control, inspection and approval procedures, including for approval of the use of additives or for the establishment of tolerances for contaminants in food, beverages or feedstuffs; (d) the confidentiality of information about imported products arising from or supplied in connection with control, inspection and approval is respected in a way no less favourable than for domestic products and in such a manner that legitimate commercial interests are protected; (e) any requirements for control, inspection and approval of individual specimens of a product are limited to what is reasonable and necessary; (f) any fees imposed for the procedures on imported products are equitable in relation to any fees charged on like domestic products or products originating in any other Member and should be no higher than the actual cost of the service; (g) the same criteria should be used in the siting of facilities used in the procedures and the selection of samples of imported products as for domestic products so as to minimize the inconvenience to applicants, importers, exporters or their agents;

(h) whenever specifications of a product are changed subsequent to its control and inspection in light of the applicable regulations, the procedure for the modified product is limited to what is necessary to determine whether adequate confidence exists that the product still meets the regulations concerned; and (i) a procedure exists to review complaints concerning the

• peration of such procedures and to take corrective action

when a complaint is justified. Where an importing Member operates a system for the approval of the use

• f food additives or for the establishment of tolerances for contaminants

in food, beverages or feedstuffs which prohibits or restricts access to its domestic markets for products based on the absence of an approval, the importing Member shall consider the use of a relevant international standard as the basis for access until a final determination is made. 2. Where a sanitary or phytosanitary measure specifies control at the level of production, the Member in whose territory the production takes place shall provide the necessary assistance to facilitate such control and the work of the controlling authorities. 3. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent Members from carrying out reasonable inspection within their own territories.

The approach to food safety at national levels based on the international guidance and best practices.

Challenges Facing Many National Systems for SPS Measures

• Outdated or incomplete food laws and regulations, not adopting the

provisions of the SPS agreement and the international best practices

• Unclear allocation of rolls and responsibilities of authorities and

economic operators, overlapping and gaps

• Limited institutional infrastructure often based on old principles that

do not apply today

• Inadequate scientific and technical resources
• Absence of a national food safety strategy
• Limited infrastructure, equipment, supplies, skilled, personnel etc.
• Weak capacity to participate fully in international bodies and

agreements governing trade in food

Approach to Food Safety at National Level

• Lay down requirements in legislation, recommended by

scientific justification covering all aspects of the food chain in one legal framework. Cover the whole food chain from primary production all the way to the final consumer, “Farm to Fork”

• Functional separation between risk assessment (e.g. EFSA)

and risk management (e.g. European Commission, Council, EP, Member States), but ensure that there is good communication and contact between risk assessors and risk managers

Approach to Food Safety, cont.

• Apply risk analysis principles and give priority to the

greatest health risks

• Ensure that systems to trace food and feed back and forth

in the chain are in place (Traceability)

• Improve the follow-up and reporting of food- borne

disease

• Give producers, processors and traders responsibility

for food safety and require that they have internal control programmes based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.

Approach to Food Safety, cont.

Authorities shall:

• Operate in a transparent manner, e.g. make public the

results of food control activities and consult with all interested parties when preparing new legislation

• Ensure that adequate accredited laboratory facilities are

available

• Require prior approval of veterinary drugs, pesticides
• etc. and control residues in food

Approach to Food Safety, cont.

• Close co-operation between agencies responsible for

food/feed, medicines, chemicals, animal health, medical services, environmental protection, etc.

• Vertical integration/co-operation between central,

regional and local supervisory authorities (if applicable)

• Clear lines of responsibility

Approach to Food Safety, cont.

• Tackle problems at source
• Control availability and use of pesticides, veterinary

drugs, feed additives etc.

• Control throughout the food chain to secure safety,

zoonoses, etc.

Approach to Food Safety, cont.

• Enforcement (regulatory) authorities ensure that

internal HACCP-based control systems used by

• perators are adequate, validated and implemented in

such a way as to meet legal requirements

• Producers and processors should apply PRP

programmes such as Good Agricultural Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Hygienic Practices, etc.

Who Benefits

• Consumers in all countries benefit.

– The SPS Agreement helps ensure the safety of their food and in many cases enhances it by encouraging the systematic use of scientific information, thus reducing the scope for arbitrary and unjustified decisions. – More information has become available to consumers as a result of greater transparency in governmental procedures. – The elimination of unnecessary trade barriers allows consumers to benefit from a greater choice of safe foods and from healthy international competition among producers.

Who Benefits

• Producers at all levels, exporters, importers and

distributors benefit;

– from the elimination of unjustified barriers to their product – the agreement reduces uncertainty about the conditions for selling to a specific market through better transparency and predictability – greater certainty and clarity of border measures. – the agreement clarifies the basis for restricting trade through sanitary and phytosanitary measures. This makes the basis for challenging unjustified requirements clearer.

Thank you