Ensuring Food Safety In The European Union

It’s not easy to navigate through EU food laws, so this book provides a clear analysis of the relevant EU regulations, making it beneficial to food safety organizations and food industry professionals. Ensuring Food Safety in the European Union provides an overall detailed analysis of the many and complex initiatives implemented by the European Union Institutions since the European Commission adopted on 12 January 2000 the "White Paper on Food Safety" with the objective of defining the policies to improve the level of health protection for the consumers of Europe's food. Achieving the highest standards of food safety in Europe has been a key policy priority for the European Institutions during the past 20 years through the implementation between 2000 and 2019 of many initiatives anticipated in the mentioned White Paper concerning: (i) The establishment of the European Food Safety Authority; (ii) the adoption of new food safety legislations in many domains; and (iii) the adoption of consumer’s mandatory and voluntary information regulations. Features Offers a clear and evolutive view of all relevant procedures and objectives to ensure food safety in European context Up to date presentation of EU relevant regulation and EFSA roles and activities Discusses the basic reasoning underlying the development and objectives of the current approach to food laws The book offers a review of all the available tools and their practical usefulness on food safety at European level and their possible integration. The interest of the European Institutions for food safety policies continues to be very high as shown by the adoption in September 2019 of the EU regulation 1381 to further reinforce and potentiate, among others, EFSA risk assessment. The main target of the book is the food business operators of large and medium enterprises and their consultants. Other interested parties are the authorities competent at national and regional and local level and university teaching professionals in charge of food safety and related courses.

"With this booklet an effort has been made to explain what is being done with EC funds for food safety research. The focus is not on individual success stories but rather on the approach of a programme and its instruments meant to contribute to achieving the European Research Area."--Publisher's description.

Food safety is a top priority in Europe. The EU's demanding rules have been further toughened since 2000 to ensure that Europeans' food is extremely safe. The new approach is more integrated: feed and food are carefully tracked from the farm to the fork. EU authorities carefully evaluate risk and always seek the best possible scientific advice before banning or permitting any product, ingredient, additive or GMO. This applies to all feed and food, irrespective of whether it comes from inside or outside the EU. Safety does not mean uniformity. The EU promotes diversity based on quality. European law protects traditional foods and products from specific regions by ensuring consumers can distinguish them from copies. The European Union is increasingly encouraging its farmers to focus on quality - not just in food but also in the rural environment. The EU also respects the consumer's right to informed choice. It encourages public debate, it requires informative labelling and it publishes the scientific advice it receives, so that consumers can have confidence in the food they eat.

The quality of the food we eat has become one of the biggest concerns for Europe's citizens. This brochure explains the role of the European Union (EU) in maintaining the highest standards of food safety and quality. The EU agricultural policy encourages farmers to produce a large choice of quality foodstuff, including organic production. European-wide legislation serves to keep food free of harmful substances and to keep consumers well informed through the labels on the food. The EU Food and Veterinary Office monitors whether safety rules are followed. Also, the EU activities related to new technology and to the global trade rules have an impact on our daily food.

“As a Journal Editor for over twenty-five years, I have read a lot about the European Union. I am often asked, 'what are the major gaps in EU research?' My answer is always 'implementation'. Eva Thomann's book makes a major contribution to EU implementation studies. She brings really fresh thinking to the field. This is an important book for all students of the EU and of policy implementation." —Jeremy Richardson, Co-Editor of the Journal of European Public Policy This book sheds light on the patterns, causes and consequences of the “customization” of European Union (EU) policies. Even if they comply, member states interpret and adapt EU rules in very diverse ways when putting them into practice. We can think of and measure this diversity as a phenomenon of regulatory change along the implementation chain. The book explores what explains customization, and what it means for providing policy solutions to shared problems. It studies the implementation of EU food safety policies in Austria, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland using innovative qualitative comparative techniques. After looking at the role of prominent compliance arguments and the “logics of action” for customization, the study assesses how differing degrees of customization affect the success of the implementation. The book provides a new, evidence-based perspective on “gold-plating” and better regulation in Europe for scholars, students and practitioners of policy implementation, European integration and Europeanization alike.

A very high portion of the seafood we eat comes from abroad, mainly from China and Southeast Asia, and most of the active ingredients in medicines we take originate in other countries. Many low- and middle-income countries have lower labor costs and fewer and less stringent environmental regulations than the United States, making them attractive places to produce food and chemical ingredients for export. Safe Foods and Medical Products Through Stronger Regulatory Systems Abroad explains that the diversity and scale of imports makes it impractical for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) border inspections to be sufficient to ensure product purity and safety, and incidents such as American deaths due to adulterated heparin imported from China propelled the problem into public awareness. The Institute of Medicine Committee on Strengthening Core Elements of Regulatory Systems in Developing Countries took up the vital task of helping the FDA to cope with the reality that so much of the food, drugs, biologics, and medical products consumed in the United States originate in countries with less-robust regulatory systems. Ensuring Safe Foods and Medical Products Through Stronger Regulatory Systems Abroad describes the ways the United States can help strengthen regulatory systems in low and middle income countries and promote cross-border partnerships - including government, industry, and academia - to foster regulatory science and build a core of regulatory professionals. This report also emphasizes an array of practical approaches to ensure sound regulatory practices in today's interconnected world.

Food safety has been a global concern for many years. While global sourcing of foods and ingredients provides great opportunity for variety and diversity of cultural products, there are significant risks. Programs that regulate food safety and quality in countries around the world vary in their scope and effectiveness, with many being underfunded. Rapidly developing countries may lack the expertise, laboratory resources for testing, and established inspection programs to adequately promote the safety of foods. Rather, these countries may be more focused on providing enough food for their citizens. Lack of documentation or traceability in the exporting country can further exacerbate the situation. Of course, safety problems in food imported from more developed countries also occur, and the source of food borne disease outbreaks are found regularly within the United States. Improving Import Food Safety gathers together vital information on the food safety programs of national governments, the food industry, and the testing industry. Chapters have been contributed by authors from the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Readers will learn about a variety of regulatory approaches to food safety at the federal and state levels in the United States, as well as in selected countries and within the food industry itself. They will also gain insights into the nature and source of safety problems, in addition to approaches to food safety around the world. The book is divided into three sections: Highlighting Key Issues: authors illustrate the millions of permutations for the origin of ingredients, discussing the difficulty if policing imports, providing a unique perspective on the economic situation in China and insight into development of support for small farm producers in Mexico. Legal and Regulatory Issues/Structures in the USA and Abroad: describes the legal and regulatory system in the European Union, the United States, and China, plus a chapter addressing global approaches to fraud. Potential Strategies to Improve Import Safety: presents strategies to deal with what are ultimately global issues, but on multiple levels. Perspectives are provided by authors from Industry, and industry trade association, academia, and a recently semi-retired, global ambassador or food safety. Readers will find this book noteworthy because of the diverse topics and perspectives offered on the challenges of keeping food safe in a global economy. Authors come from a variety of backgrounds, and each has provided a unique perspective on this critical topic. The volume is aimed at importers and exporters of food and ingredients; food microbiologists, food safety and QC/QA personnel; regulatory and legal personnel in food manufacturing companies; food policy makers and regulatory officials and facility and graduate students in food science.

The dynamic and complex system of European Union policymaking is analysed in this new edition of a much-praised textbook. It offers the most integrated understanding of EU policy available. Major approaches to policymaking – including intergovernmentalism, neofunctionalism, supranationalism and critical theory – are presented and supplemented with the authors' own theoretical model, federal integration, to create a comprehensive evaluation of the EU's interests and actors in key policy domains. The text covers the EU's main policy areas – including those on the single market, Economic and Monetary Union, foreign policy, migration and border control, social and regional policies, and the budget – locating them in this wider theoretical framework. As such, it is the key introduction to the subject for students of European Politics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. New to this Edition: - Each chapter rewritten, many extensively, throughout - New chapters on migration and border control, competition policy, and social and cohesion policies. - New illustrative material and many new examples - Each chapter now includes a Guide to Further Reading