Brussels, 08/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 7 September, the Council adopted, without debate, a regulation up-dating the EU rules for animal by-products, following a first reading agreement with the European Parliament in April. Animal by-products are products of animal origin not destined for human consumption. Animal by-products occur mainly at the time of the slaughter of animals for human consumption, during the manufacture of animal products such as diary products, and at the time of disposal of dead animals. Over 15 million tonnes of animal by-products are produced in the EU every year.
The new regulation introduces the concept of an “end point” in the manufacturing of animal by-products, after which the processed products are no longer subject to the animal by-products regulation, as some potential risks have been eliminated, for example, by heat or chemical substances. The new rules clarify the distinction between foodstuffs and animal by-products by confirming that operators need to make an irreversible decision on whether products are destined for purposes other than human consumption. This means that once a product has become an animal by-product, it must not re-enter the human food chain.
The regulation provides for modification of current classification of animal by-products by comitology procedure. The current classification system has been retained, however. Thus, category 1 (harmful to health) and category 2 (unfit for human consumption) animal by-products must not be put on the human food market, while category 3 products (which do not meet some of the conditions for use as human foodstuffs) may be used for certain animal feeding purposes.
There is to be compulsory registration for operators who transport animal by-products, in order to enhance traceability. Coherence between the regulation on animal by-products and other EU legislation (in particular, on food hygiene and waste) has been improved. This removes unnecessary burdens for operators - for example, approval for slaughterhouses and dairy plants under food and feed legislation will be recognised.
The basic principles of the current regulation on animal by-products (1774/2002), however, remain unchanged. These include: - the intra-species ban (material derived from animals is not to be fed to animals of the same species); - the rule that only material from animals which have undergone veterinary inspection is to enter the feed chain for farmed animals; - the ban on feeding catering waste to farmed animals, in particular to pigs.
The new regulation will come into force 20 days after its publication in the official Journal of the European Union and will become applicable 15 months after its coming into force. (L.C./transl.rt)