Directive 2002/32/EC of 7 May 2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council on undesirable substances in animal feed is the framework for the Community action on undesirable substances in feed.
This Framework Directive provides that:
* products intended for animal feed may enter for use in the Community from third countries, be put into circulation and/or used in the Community only if they are sound, genuine and of merchantable quality and therefore when correctly used do not represent any danger to human health, animal health or to the environment or could adversely affect livestock production.
* in order to protect animal and public health and the environment, maximum levels for specific undesirable substances shall be established where necessary (by comitology)
* provides for mandatory consultation of a scientific body (EFSA) for all provisions which may have an effect upon public health.
* products intended for animal feed containing levels of an undesirable substance that exceed the established maximum level may not be mixed for dilution purposes with the same, or other, products intended for animal feed and may not be used for the production of compound feed.
Based on the provisions and principles laid down in this framework Directive, maximum levels for a whole range of undesirable substances have been established at EU level.
The Directive 2002/32/EC introduced important changes to the previous regulatory framework in place in the EU since 1974. The main modifications can be summarised as follows:
- extension of the scope of the Directive to include the possibility of establishing maximum limits for undesirable substances in feed additives.
- deletion of the existing possibility to dilute contaminated feed materials instead of decontamination or destruction (introduction of the principle of non-dilution).
- deletion of the possibility for derogation of the maximum limits for particular local reasons.
- introduction the possibility of the establishment of an action threshold triggering an investigation to identify the source of contamination (“early warning system”) and to take measures to reduce or eliminate the contamination (“pro-active approach”).
In particular the introduction of the principle of non-dilution was an important and far- reaching measure. In order to protect public and animal health, it is important that the overall contamination of the food and feed chain is reduced to a level as low as reasonably achievable providing a high level of public health and animal health protection. The deletion of the possibility of dilution is a powerful mean to stimulate all operators throughout the chain to apply the necessary prevention measures to avoid contamination as much as possible. The prohibition of dilution accompanied with the necessary control measures has and will effectively contribute to safer feed.
During the discussions in view of the adoption of Directive 2002/32/EC, the Commission made the commitment to review the existing provisions on undesirable substances on the basis of updated scientific risk assessments and taking into account the prohibition of any dilution of contaminated non-complying products intended for animal feed.
Following requests of the European Commission, the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has completed a series of 30 risk assessments undertaken over the last 5 years on undesirable substances in animal feed reviewing the possible risks for animal and human health due to the presence of these substances in animal feed.
In most cases, the CONTAM Panel identified no risks to animal health resulting from feed intakes at the maximum authorized levels, provided good animal feeding practices are followed. However, adverse effects on animal health could not be excluded for some substances, such as deoxynivalenol in pigs, mercury in cats, gossypol in sheep and theobromine in dogs and horses.
The risks of adverse human health effects due to the presence of undesirable substances in products of animal origin – such as fresh meat, eggs and milk – were generally found to be low but in some cases EFSA recommended reducing their presence, in particular for persistent organic pollutants such as camphechlor.
EU legislation on undesirable substances has undergone recently several changes to take account of these most recent scientific opinions.
In addition to the provisions in Directive 2002/32/EC, guidance values have been established for ochratoxin A and the Fusarium -toxins deoxynivalenol, zearalenone and fumonisin B1+B2 in cereals and cereal products intended for animal feeding and for compound feedingstuffs (for sensitive animal species).
Furthermore EFSA has assessed the risks for public and animal health following the unavoidable carry-over of coccidiostats into non target feed. Maximum levels for the unavoidable carry-over have been established for the non-target feed and the food of animal origin from non-target animal species.
In the presentation, particular attention will be paid to the regulatory framework for undesirable substances in feed, the procedure for setting maximum levels (decision-making process) and to the recent changes of the provisions on undesirable substances in feed, including as regards the unavoidable carry-over. Finally, an outlook to the future on legislative initiatives as regards undesirable substances in feed will be presented. |
