Press Release: Byrne welcomes endorsement of food hygiene proposals by the EP

The European Parliament today delivered its first reading on the 'food hygiene package' adopted by the European Commission on 14 July 2000. The package represents a major recast of the food hygiene legislation currently in force. The Parliament considered proposals on general food hygiene, the hygiene of food of animal origin and on the animal health rules for food of animal origin. Under the proposals food operators right through the food chain will bear primary responsibility for food safety. The new regulations will merge, harmonise and simplify very detailed and complex hygiene requirements previously scattered over seventeen existing directives. The intention is to create a single, transparent hygiene policy applicable to all food and all food operators, from farm to table. The focus is on setting objectives while leaving business the flexibility to decide the safety measures to take, rather than prescribing them in great detail.