Press Release: Commission proposes new food safety hygiene rules

The most radical shake up for 25 years of the Community's food safety hygiene rules was announced on 17 July 2000 by David Byrne, Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner. Under the proposals, contained in 4 Regulations, 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 17 existing directives. They innovate in making a single, transparent hygiene policy applicable to all food and all food operators, from the farm to the table, together with effective instruments to manage food safety and any future food crises throughout the food chain. The focus is on setting objectives while leaving business flexibility in deciding the safety measures to take, rather than prescribing them in great detail.

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http://ec.europa.eu/comm/food/index_en.html http://ec.europa.eu/comm/food/index_en.html

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