Euro food agency a "sham" says expert
Draft proposals by the European Commission to radically overhaul food laws across Europe could actually undermine both food safety and its enforcement, warns food safety analyst Dr Richard North.
He believes plans to force even the smallest food operator to adopt permanent written procedures along the lines of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (Haccp) will prove a bureaucratic nightmare and cost UK firms £2b without improving overall food safety.
North, who is also research director for the Europe of Democracy and Diversity Group in the European Parliament, also branded the proposed European Food Authority a "sham" and a "decoy". Far from being an authority with legislative and enforcement powers, North said it was merely a "talking shop" that rationalised existing advisory committees.
He believed the EFA had deflected debate from the 84 proposals in January's White Paper on Food Safety and the fact that the EC was taking over European food policy "lock, stock and barrel" and sidelining national bodies such as the UK's Food Standards Agency. The white paper's proposals are regulations rather than directives (which can be translated into national law).
North argued that some firms would simply go through the motions to satisfy enforcers and that merely having Haccp documentation would allow offenders to cut corners yet still have a due diligence defence. It could mean safe premises facing criminal charges for not having written procedures, while guilty parties with documents would escape prosecution.
An FSA spokesman said that it was still "far from finalised how the EFA will work with national agencies" and that the FSA would act if it saw a risk to UK consumers that was not being addressed at the European level.
He also argued that there would be some flexibility in adapting Haccp systems (developed for manufacturers) to small caterers. But North believed any simplifications would backfire, with enforcers demanding maximum controls and caterers having to re-write procedures for every menu change.
Clive Wadey, vice-chairman of the CIEH food committee and quality and environment director at Compass Granada, said the experience with licensing butchers showed that bringing small firms up to scratch would be a "enormous task" for the industry and local authorities.
Small firms unable to afford experts and consultants would rely on environmenal health officers for advice, which posed "serious resource implications" for inspection and enforcement. He added that local authorities needed to agree a consistent approach interpreting the level of enforcement required.
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