Safeguards in food law – ensuring food scares are scarce

Abstract:

In the wake of the various food crises in the last decades of the twentieth century, the containment of risks to human health has become a priority in EU food policy. This explains why in recent years, in addition to already existing legal instruments, three new safeguard measures have been adopted in EC Food Law. Safeguard measures can restrict, suspend, or prohibit the marketing of foodstuffs on grounds of protection of human health. This article describes and analyses the significance of these safeguard measures in dealing with future food crises and it clarifies in what way they are distinctly different. A range of examples and an examination of case law of the European Courts illustrate their practical application and limitations. Four conclusions can be drawn from the analysis. First, competent authorities now have at their disposal no less than six safeguard measures. Secondly, the Commission has gained political and administrative clout in the domain of food safety by the recently introduced safeguard measures. Thirdly, it appears that the precautionary principle established in the EC's General Food Law is used as a safeguard measure in its own right. Finally, safeguard measures should not be equated to the certainty of a specific degree of risk. They can be put and remain in place not only when risks are high or even life-threatening, but also in the absence of risk or when risk is small.