The Food Safety (Fishery Products) Regulations 1992

Regulation 3(e)

SCHEDULE 1 HEALTH CONTROL AND MONITORING OF PRODUCTION CONDITIONS (PROVIDED FOR BY CHAPTER V OF THE ANNEX TO THE COUNCIL DIRECTIVE)

PART I general monitoring

Each food authority shall establish the following arrangements in order to establish whether the requirements laid down in the Regulations are complied with and such arrangements will include, in particular,

(a) a check on the fishing vessels, on the understanding that such a check may be carried out during the stay in port;

(b) a check on the conditions of landing and first sale;

(c) an inspection at regular intervals of establishments, including factory vessels registered in a member State of the European Community, to check in particular;

(i) whether the conditions for approval are still fulfilled;

(ii) whether the fishery products are handled correctly;

(iii) the cleanliness of the premises, facilities and instruments and staff hygiene;

(iv) whether identification marks are put on correctly;

(d) an inspection of the wholesale and auction markets;

(e) a check on storage and transport conditions.

PART II special checks

A. Organoleptic checks

1.  Without prejudice to the derogations provided for by Council Regulation (EEC) No.103/76 of 19th January 1976 as amended((1)) (laying down common marketing standards for certain fresh or chilled fish,) each batch of fishery products must be submitted for inspection by the food authority at the time of landing or before first sale to check whether they are fit for human consumption; this inspection comprises an organoleptic check carried out by sampling.

2.  Fishery products complying, as far as the fre shness criteria are concerned, with the common marketing standards already laid down pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No.3796/81 as amended((2)) are considered to fulfil the organoleptic requirements necessary for compliance with the provisions of these Regulations.

3.  The organoleptic examinations must be repeated after the first sale of fishery products, if it is found that the requirements of these Regulations have not been complied with, or when considered necessary; after the first sale, fishery products must at least comply with the minimum freshness requirements of the aforementioned Regulation.

4.  If the organoleptic examination reveals that the fishery products are not fit for human consumption, measures must be taken to withdraw them from the market and denature in such a way that they cannot be re-used for human consumption.

5.  If the organoleptic examination reveals any doubt as to the freshness of the fishery products, use may be made of chemical checks or microbiological analyses.

B. Parasite checks

1.  Before they are released from production for human consumption, fish and fish products must be subject to a visual inspection on behalf of the food authority, by way of sample for the purpose of detecting any parasites that are visible.

2.  Fish or parts of fish which are obviously infested with parasites must not be placed on the market for human consumption.

C. Chemical checks

1.  When chemical checks are to be carried out by the food authority samples must be taken and subjected to laboratory analysis for the control of the following parameters;

(a) TBV-N (Total Volatile Basic-Nitrogen) and TMA-N (Trimethylamine-Nitrogen);

(b) Histamine;

nine samples must be taken from each batch; these must fulfil the following requirements

• the mean value must not exceed 100 parts per million ( “ppm”);

• two samples may have a value of more than 100 ppm but less than 200 ppm;

• no sample may have a value exceeding 200 ppm.

2.  These limits apply only to fish species of the following families: Scombridae and Clupeidae; however, fish belonging to these families which have undergone enzyme ripening treatment in brine may have higher hystamine levels but not more than twice the above values; examinations must be carried out in accordance with reliable, scientifically recognised methods, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Contaminants present in the aquatic environment.

3.  The Ministers shall establish a monitoring system to check the levels of such contamination of fishery products and without prejudice to the Community rules concerning water protection and management, and in particular those concerning pollution of the aquatic environment, fishery products must not contain in their edible parts contaminants present in the aquatic environment such as heavy metals and organochlorinated substances at such a level that the calculated dietary intake exceeds the acceptable daily or weekly intake for humans.

Regulation 3(f)

SCHEDULE 2 PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS (PROVIDED FOR BY CHAPTER VI OF THE ANNEX TO THE COUNCIL DIRECTIVE)

1.  Packaging must be carried out under satisfactory conditions of hygiene, to preclude contamination of the fishery products.

2.  Packaging materials and products liable to enter into contact with fishery products must comply with all the rules of hygiene, and in particular:

• they must not be such as to impair the organoleptic characteristics of the fishery product;

• they must not be capable of transmitting to the fishery products substances harmful to human health;

• they must be strong enough to protect the fishery products adequately.

3.  With the exception of certain containers made of impervious, smooth and corrosion-resistant material which are easy to clean and disinfect, which may be re-used after cleaning and disinfecting, packaging materials may not be reused. Packaging materials used for fresh fishery products which are held under ice must provide adequate drainage for melt water.

4.  Unused packaging materials must be stored in places away from the production area and be protected from dust and contamination.

Regulation 3(g)

SCHEDULE 3 REQUIREMENTS AS TO IDENTIFICATION MARKS (PROVIDED FOR BY CHAPTER VII OF THE ANNEX TO THE COUNCIL DIRECTIVE)

Without prejudice to the requirements of the Food Labelling (Amendment) Regulations 1990((3)) and the Food Labelling (Amendment) (Irradiated Food) Regulations 1990((4)), it must be possible to trace for inspection purposes the establishment of dispatch of consignments of fishery products, by means of either labelling or the accompanying documents. For that purpose, in respect of each consignment of fishery products the following information must appear on the packaging or in the accompanying documents:

• the country of dispatch;

• identification of the establishment or factory vessel of dispatch by its approval number or, in the case of separate registering of auction or wholesale markets as specified in regulation 13 the registration number of the auction or wholesale market.

Regulation 3(h)

SCHEDULE 4 STORAGE AND TRANSPORT REQUIREMENTS (PROVIDED FOR BY CHAPTER VIII OF THE ANNEX TO THE COUNCIL DIRECTIVE)

1.  Fishery products must, during storage and transport, be kept at the temperatures laid down in these Regulations, and in particular:—

(a) fresh or thawed fishery products and cooked and chilled crustacean and molluscan shellfish products must be kept at a temperature approaching that of melting ice;

(b) frozen fishery products, with the exception of frozen fish in brine intended for the manufacture of canned foods, must be kept at an even temperature of 18C or less in all parts of the product, after temperature stabilisation, and allowing for the possibility of brief upward fluctuations of not more than 3C, during transport.

2.  Where frozen fishery products are transported from a cold storage plant to an approved establishment to be thawed on arrival for the purposes of either preparation or processing and where the distance to be covered does not exceed 50 km or, if the distance is greater, the anticipated duration of the journey is less than one hour, the food authority may grant a derogation from the conditions laid down in paragraph 1(b).

3.  Products may not be stored or transported with other products which may contaminate them or affect their hygiene, unless they are packaged in such a way as to provide satisfactory protection.

4.  Vehicles used for the transport of fishery products must be constructed and equipped in such a way that the temperatures laid down in these Regulations can be maintained throughout the period of transport. If ice is used to chill the fishery products, adequate drainage must be provided in order to ensure that water from melted ice does not stay in contact with the products. The inside surfaces of the means of transport must be finished in such a way that they do not adversely affect the fishery products. They must be smooth and easy to clean and disinfect.

5.  Means of transport used for fishery products may not be used for transporting other products likely to impair or contaminate fishery products, except where the fishery products can be safeguarded against contamination by such transport being thoroughly cleaned and disinfected immediately prior to each occasion it is used for fishery products.

6.  Fishery products may not be transported in a vehicle or container which is not clean and or which should have been disinfected.

7.  The transport conditions of fishery products to be placed on the market alive must not adversely affect the fishery products.

Regulation 11

SCHEDULE 5 OBLIGATIONS OF PROPRIETOR (PROVIDED FOR BY ARTICLE 6 OF THE COUNCIL DIRECTIVE)

Each proprietor shall carry out checks based on the following principles:

• identification of points critical to ensuring safe and hygienic production in their establishment on the basis of the manufacturing processes used;

• establishment and implementation of methods for monitoring and checking such critical points;

• taking samples for analysis in a laboratory recognised by the food authority for the purpose of checking compliance with the standards for particular fishery products, where these have been established by these Regulations, and in deciding whether a laboratory is recognised, food authorities shall have regard to any advice issued by the Ministers concerning suitable performance assessment schemes;

• keeping a written record or a record registered in an indelible fashion of the preceding points which shall be made available to the food authority on request; the results of the different checks will, in particular, be kept by the proprietor for a period of at least two years form the date they were recorded.

If the results of the proprietor’s checks reveal a serious health risk or suggest one might exist, the food authority shall be immediately notified by the proprietor and such notification confirmed in writing within 48 hours. In the event of an immediate health risk, any necessary withdrawal, reprocessing, or destruction of products may take place under the supervision and control of the food authority where that authority considers it necessary.

(1)

OJ No.L 20, 28.1.1976, p. 29.Regulation last amended by Regulation (EEC) No.33/89 (OJ No.L 5, 7.1.1989, p. 18).

(2)

OJ No.L 379, 31.12.1981, p. 1, as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No.2886/89 (OJ No.L 282, 2.10.1989, p. 1.)

(3)

S.I.1990/2488.

(4)

S.I.1990/2489.