EU-directives for import of food and private/national standards

Many companies outside the EU fail to comply with EU-regulations for food import. This hinders economic growth, especially in the very promising area of food production. European consumers are more and more interested in consuming international and tropical food products. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in third countries often do not have the means to achieve European-wide or private standards. This is due to failures in infrastructure of the country (e.g. certification bodies, energy supply) and in the capacities of the companies (e.g. cooling chains, hygienic requirements).

 

EU-directives for import of food

In the EU the food hygiene import system for food of animal origin are not entirely the same as for food of non-animal origin or of food containing both ingredients of animal origin and plant origin. The food hygiene conditions for food imports are laid down in several parts of Community law. For more information see >>here

 

Private and national standards of food imports to the EU

At the same time as the interest in international and exotic food products rises, the concern of European consumers with regard to food safety, food quality and health issues increased. Particularly, diseases like BSE, salmonella etc. contributed to an increased concern about food safety and European consumers asked for stronger regulations and transparency. For this reason and in response to an increasing demand of organically produced products, many countries and European enterprises created their own standards with own certification bodies and technical staff. Often, these standards are more strict than the official import regulations of the EU.

 

For more details on different countries and enterprises see >>Research results from PatCom to achieve standards