Commission provides guidance on meat and seafood imports

Over the past few years the EU has undertaken a fundamental overhaul of its food safety legislation to bring in tougher requirements on hygiene and traceability of supplies. With the reform process now largely completed finalised the guidance documents serve as a summation of the requirements on imports into the bloc.

Food companies sourcing supplies from outside the EU may only import from approved meat and seafood processors listed on public documents published by the European Commission. The lists may limit their ability to source cheaper supplies for their products, but they also provide them with a ready-made contact point for non-EU processors, such as slaugherhouses, that meet the bloc's food safety requirements.

In general the EU's regulation on food imports is based on the establishment of approved lists of countries and companies that follow the food safety and testing requirement standards set down by the bloc's administrative arm.

Countries must first apply to the European Commission for approval. The Commission then checks whether the countries have competent regulatory authorities to regulate the food industry according to international standards.

Individual exporters then apply to be put on the list as an approved source of meat and seafood products for EU companies. To be approved they must be tested regularly by their country's food safety authority and must follow international standards.

The European Commission acts as the sole negotiating partner for all non-EU countries in questions related to import conditions for fresh meat and meat products.

In the case of meat products imports into the EU remain subject to veterinary certification - which is based on the recognition of the competent authority of the non-EU country by the Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection.

The formal recognition of the reliability of the competent authority is a pre-requisite for the country to be eligible and authorised for export to the EU.

Food regulators in exporting country must ensure credible inspection and controls throughout the food production chain that cover all aspects of hygiene, animal health and public health.

For meat and meat products from all species, countries of origin must be on a positive list of eligible countries for the relevant product. An exporting country must have a competent veterinary authority responsible throughout the food chain. The country or region of origin must be a member of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and should meet that organisation's standards and reporting obligations.

The regulator must also guarantee that the relevant hygiene and public health requirements are met. The hygiene legislation contains specific requirements on the structure of establishments, equipment and operational processes for slaughter, cutting, storage and handling of meat.

A monitoring system must also be in place to verify compliance with the EU's requirements on residues of veterinary medicines, pesticides and contaminants.

A suitable monitoring programme must be designed by the competent authority and submitted to the Commission for initial approval and yearly renewal.

Imports are only authorised from approved establishments, such as slaughterhouses, cutting plants, game handling establishments, cold stores and meat processing plants. The plants must have been inspected by the regulator and found to meet EU requirements.

An inspection by the Commission's Food and Veterinary Office is necessary to confirm compliance with the requirements.

Imports of meat or meat products must enter the EU via an approved border inspection post under the authority of an official veterinarian.

Each consignment is subject to a systematic documentary check, identity check and, as appropriate, a physical check. Consignments that are found not to be compliant with EU legislation is either destroyed or, under certain conditions, re-dispatched within 60 days.

In the case of seafood, import rules are the same in all EU countries. For non-EU countries the European Commission is the negotiating partner that defines import conditions and certification requirements. For most countries with existing seafood trade, the European Commission negotiates on behalf of the 25 member states.

To fully implement the harmonised principles for the bloc, the Commisson's Food and Veterinary Office is currently undertaking missions in all exporting countries, few of which are still trading with individual EU member states on the basis of bilateral arrangements. For all fishery products, exporters must be on a positive list of eligible countries for the relevant product.

The national authorities must also guarantee that the relevant hygiene and public health requirements are met. The EU's new hygiene legislation contains specific requirements on the structure of vessels, landing sites, processing establishments and on operational processes, freezing and storage.

Specific requirements are set for imports of live or processed bivalve molluscs, echinoderms such as sea urchins and for marine gastropods. Such imports are only permitted if they come from approved and listed production areas.

The regulators in exporting countries are required to give guarantees on the classification of such products and the close monitoring of the production zones to exclude contamination with certain marine biotoxins causing shellfish poisoning.

For aquaculture products, exporters must adhere to a control plan on heavy metals, contaminants, pesticide residues and veterinary drugs. The plans must be designed by the regulator and must be submitted to the Commission for initial approval and yearly renewal.

The EU is the world's largest importer of meat and seafood products according to the European Commission.

Updated lists of eligible establishments that can supply meat and seafood products to the EU is available here: http://forum.europa.eu.int/irc/sanco/vets/info/data/listes/table0.html​.