Press Release: Commission submits to SCoFCAH proposal setting strict conditions for the antimicrobial treatment of poultry carcasses

The European Commission, having examined the conditions under which poultry meat treated with antimicrobial substances could be marketed in the EU, decided today to submit to the Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) a proposal that sets strict conditions on the basis of which four antimicrobial substances could be used in the decontamination process of poultry carcasses. These substances will have to be used separately and not in combination and they would have to be used to treat whole poultry carcasses and not parts of carcasses or poultry cuts. The businesses using the substances would also have to let consumers know, through labelling, that the poultry has been treated by one of these substances – they would have to label in a clearly legible way that the poultry has either been 'treated with antimicrobial substances' or 'decontaminated by chemicals'. Strict conditions for the management of waste water were also provided for in order to ensure the protection of the environment. Furthermore, the businesses using these substances must collect data for monitoring and make the data available to the competent authorities. It was also proposed that within 2 years from the date of application the authorisation and the conditions of their use will be mandatorily reviewed, in the light of further scientific data and, if appropriate, the Commission will propose for the regulation to be adapted.