Food & Drink Guides

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Plant health: Harmful organisms by Ina Dimireva — last modified 11 May 2010, 16:35 CET

The aim of the Community plant health regime is to prevent the introduction into the community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products or their spread within the Community. In order to meet the this aim, rights and obligations are placed upon Member States to regulate the movement of plants or plant products within their territory and to regulate the introduction of plants or plant products into the Community from third countries. Obligations are placed upon third countries which want to export plants or plant products to the Community.

Trade and Imports of Animal Products - personal consignments by Ina Dimireva — last modified 21 January 2010, 13:46 CET

Personal consignments containing meat, milk or their products and brought into the EU continue to present a real threat to animal health throughout the EU. Hence pathogens could be introduced into the EU if personal consignments containing meat, milk or their products are sent by post or carried in the baggage of travellers arriving from countries outside the EU, where such pathogens may be circulating.

Novel food by Ina Dimireva — last modified 21 January 2010, 13:46 CET

Novel foods are foods and food ingredients that have not been used for human consumption to a significant degree within the Community before 15 May 1997. Regulation EC 258/97 of 27 January 1997 of the European Parliament and the Council lays out detailed rules for the authorisation of novel foods and novel food ingredients. Foods commercialised in at least one Member State before the entry into force of the Regulation on Novel Foods on 15 May 1997, are on the EU market under the "principle of mutual recognition". In order to ensure the highest level of protection of human health, novel foods must undergo a safety assessment before being placed on the EU market. Only those products considered to be safe for human consumption are authorised for marketing.

Food and Feed Labelling by Ina Dimireva — last modified 21 January 2010, 13:46 CET

In the EU rules are put in place on the labelling of foodstuffs to enable European consumers to get comprehensive information on the contents and the composition of food products. Labelling helps consumers to make an informed choice while purchasing their foodstuffs. For certain foods it is considered particularly important that the products should also be of a specific quality. In such cases legislation has been established defining specific rules on, for example, composition.

General Food Law by Ina Dimireva — last modified 21 January 2010, 12:47 CET

The aim of the General Food Law Regulation is to provide a framework to ensure a coherent approach in the development of food legislation. At the same time, it provides the general framework for those areas not covered by specific harmonised rules but where the functioning of the Internal Market is ensured by mutual recognition. It lays down definitions, principles and obligations covering all stages of food/feed production and distribution.

Transboundary movement of genetically modified organisms by Ina Dimireva — last modified 14 July 2011, 00:26 CET

This EU Regulation aims to implement the provisions of the Cartagena Protocol on preventing biotechnological risks. The aim of the Protocol is to ensure an adequate level of protection for the transfer, handling and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that may have adverse effects on the environment and human health, and specifically focusing on transboundary movements (the movement of GMOs between two States with the excemption of intentional movements between parties to the Cartagena Protocol within the European Community).

Nutrition and health claims by Ina Dimireva — last modified 12 January 2010, 20:39 CET

Nutrition and health claims which encourage consumers to purchase a product, but are false, misleading or not scientifically proven are prohibited. The aim is to improve protection of consumers’ health and rights. European legislation has created a list of nutrition and health claims and the conditions for their authorisation which applies throughout the EU.

Labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs by Ina Dimireva — last modified 12 January 2010, 19:40 CET

Pre-packaged foodstuffs must comply with compulsory harmonised EU standards on labelling and advertising. The details that must appear on packaging include the name under which the product is sold, a list of ingredients and quantities, potential allergens (products which may cause allergies), the minimum durability date and conditions for keeping.

Protection of Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin by Ina Dimireva — last modified 11 January 2010, 19:05 CET

This Regulation establishes the rules for protecting designations of origin and geographical indications for agricultural products and foodstuffs intended for human consumption in the EU.

General principles of food law - European Food Safety Authority by Ina Dimireva — last modified 03 December 2009, 16:04 CET

The EU's legislation governing the general principles of food law and harmonised controls also underpins the European Food Safety Authority, a European agency which provides the scientific reference point for food-related control and evaluation.

European Union food aid for deprived persons - European Court of Auditors report by EUbusiness — last modified 22 September 2009, 21:47 CET

Information note of the European Court of Auditors concerning Special Report No 6/2009 - European Union food aid for deprived persons: an assessment of the objectives, the means and the methods employed.

CAP Reform: Final stage of EU wine reform enters into force by EUbusiness — last modified 01 August 2009, 23:42 CET

The final stage of the European Union wine reform, agreed by agriculture ministers in December 2007, entered into force on 1st August. The wide-ranging reform, the first stage of which applied from 1st August last year, should bring balance to the wine market, phase out wasteful and expensive market intervention measures and allow the budget to be used for more positive, proactive measures which will boost the competitiveness of European wines. The reform provides for a fast restructuring of the wine sector. It includes a voluntary, three-year grubbing-up scheme to provide an alternative for uncompetitive producers and to remove surplus wine from the market. Subsidies for crisis distillation and potable alcohol distillation will be phased out and the money, allocated in national envelopes, can be used for measures like wine promotion on third country markets, restructuring and investment in modernisation of vineyards and cellars. The reform will contribute to environmental protection in wine-growing regions, safeguard traditional and well-established quality policies and simplify labelling rules, for the benefit of producers and consumers alike. The restrictive planting rights system will also be abolished at EU level from 1 January 2016 onwards, with the possibility for EU Member States to keep it until December 2018 if they so wish.

EU agricultural product quality logos by Ina Dimireva — last modified 31 May 2017, 23:55 CET

Agricultural products produced in the European Union reflect the rich diversity of different traditions and regions in Europe. To help protect and promote products with particular characteristics linked to their geographical origin as well as traditional products, the EU created quality logos, named "Protected Designation of Origin", "Protected Geographical Indication" and "Traditional Speciality Guaranteed".

Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 16 July 2009, 17:13 CET

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) - an important tool in the EU efforts to ensure food safety - turns 30 this year. The European Commission says figures indicate that now it is more efficient than it has ever been. The system's annual report for 2008, which is being released today, notes that the number of alert notifications in 2008 was reduced by almost half compared to 2007. The total number of notifications remained stable at around 7,000. This does not mean that there were fewer problems to report in 2008. It rather indicates that the system's contributors now focus better on the risks and only classify them under "alert notifications" if they are considered "serious" and the product is circulating on the market. That is also when rapid action is required from Member States to mitigate the risk. In 2008, there were 528 alerts out of a total of about 3,000 notifications. The Commission also received about 4,000 follow-up notifications which it transmitted to all Member States.

EU - US provisional agreement in beef dispute - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 06 May 2009, 23:49 CET

Today the European Commission and the United States agreed in principle on a way forward in the long-running dispute over hormone-treated beef.

EU 1 billion euro "Food Facility" for developing countries - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 30 March 2009, 15:59 CET

The European Commission adopted on 30 March a EUR 314 million package of projects to support agriculture and improve the food security situation in 23 developing countries across the globe. This is the first financing decision in the framework of the EUR 1 billion Food Facility which was adopted at the end of last year as a response to the growing food security problems faced by many developing countries. The Commission also agreed to an overall plan for the use of the entire amount of the Facility, targeting 50 developing countries in total.

EU pesticide review programme by EUbusiness — last modified 18 March 2009, 23:27 CET

The European Commission made today an important step forward in its efforts to ensure improved protection of human health and the environment, as it completed the review of existing pesticides that were on the market before 1993. This programme concerned about 1,000 substances, of which about 250 have passed the harmonised EU safety assessment. All reviewed pesticides have undergone a detailed risk evaluation with respect to their effects on humans and on the environment. This important achievement is the result of a considerable joint effort by the Commission, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Member States.

EU School Fruit Scheme - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 19 November 2008, 22:42 CET

The European Union's Agriculture Council on 19 November reached political agreement on a European Commission proposal for a European Union-wide scheme to provide fruit and vegetables to school children.

New rules on pesticide residues to make EU food safer by EUbusiness — last modified 29 August 2008, 16:47 CET

A new regulation revising and simplifying the rules pertaining to pesticide residues enters into force on 1 September 2008.

2007 RASFF annual report - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 24 July 2008, 22:06 CET

In 2007 there was a record number of notifications sent to the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) –7,354 altogether– indicating that this tool which ensures the safety of food for Europeans is functioning well. According to the "2007 RASFF annual report ", last year 961 alerts and 2015 information notifications were received, giving rise to 4339 additional information notifications. This high number is mainly attributed to the increase of the additional information notifications – up by 13.5% compared to 2006. Most notifications in 2007 concerned official controls on the internal market (43%), while 42% concerned products from non-EU countries which were blocked at the border by EU control authorities when the risks were identified. Just as in 2006, the product category for which the most alerts were sent was fish products (21%).