CE, Management Systems for Food Safety

The European Commission has published communication 2022/C 355/01 aimed at facilitating and harmonizing the application of the requirements regarding good hygiene practices (GHP) and procedures based on the principles of the HACCP system , within the food safety management systems (FSMS).

The document, which replaces Communication 2016/C 278/01, is not legally binding; however it can become a useful tool both for Food Business Operators (FBOs) in order to clarify some application concepts of EU food safety legislation, and for Competent Authorities (CAs) in order to promote a common understanding of current requirements.

The main topics are:

• the current legislation and the relationships, within a food safety management system, between GHP, prerequisite programs (PRP), operational PRP (PRPop), procedures based on HACCP, manuals of good practice and international standards;
• the application of GHP and HACCP-based procedures;
• flexibility in the application of GHP and HACCP-based procedures in the different types of establishments, taking into account the nature of the activity and the size of the company;
• audits in the context of food safety management systems.

In this communication, the topic of introducing flexibility in the application of GHP and HACCP is extensively developed since it is important to take into account the differences, in terms of risk, depending on the nature of the activity that takes place in a given food establishment (e.g. retail sale of prepacked food compared to retail sale which involves further handling of the food; difference between a complex manufacturing/processing activity and a simple one, such as warehousing/transport).

To ensure proportionality of the administrative burden, some requirements, such as documentation and record keeping, can be simplified in smaller businesses compared to larger ones carrying out the same type of activity.

There are also 7 practical in-depth appendices aimed at both FBOs and CAs. (Source: https://www.ceirsa.org /)

For further information read Communication 2022/C 355/01