Archive for July, 2011

The Gangmasters Licensing Agency is inviting companies to participate in an Open Day on Wednesday 3 August at Dukes Island Studios, Park Royal, Dukes Road, London W3 0SL. The aim of the day is to provide advice to companies on employment legislation.  Representatives from the GLA, HM Revenue and Customs, Health and Safety Executive, UK Borders Agency, and the major retailers will be attending.

Please note that the timings for the event have been changed, and the session available to suppliers is from 1.00 – 4.00 pm.  Admission is free. To register to attend, please email to: events@parkroyal.org, indicating the 1.00-4.00 pm session.

The European Commission is proposing to revise the maximum levels of cadmium permitted in various foodstuffs, including fresh produce.

The changes proposed are:

Stem vegetables, root and tuber vegetables excluding celery (Apium graveolens). For potatoes the maximum level applies to peeled potatoes: reduce to 0.075 mg/kg (wet weight).

Leaf vegetables (excluding spinach), leafy brassica: reduction to 0.15 mg/kg (wet weight). Spinach will remain at current maximum level.

No change is proposed to the current maximum levels for:

Spinach, celery, fresh herbs and some fungi (Agaricus bisporus – common mushroom; Pleurotus ostreatus – Oyster mushroom; Lentinula edodes – Shiitake mushrooms): 0.20 mg/kg (wet weight).

Vegetables and fruit, excluding leaf vegetables, fresh herbs, leaf brassicas, fungi, stem vegetables, root and tuber vegetables and seaweed: 0.050 mg/kg (wet weight).

Other fungi: 1.0 mg/kg (wet weight).

The Food Standards Agency is seeking views from the industry on the potential impact of the European Commission’s proposals. If you have any feedback for us to respond to the FSA please contact sian@freshproduce.org.uk by 19 August.

We’ve reported previously on Fera’s review of statutory fees for plant health import inspections, documentary and identity checks, plant passports, exports, seed potatoes and import services for potatoes originating in Egypt.  The intention is to move to full cost recovery in the long term.  This is part of the Government’s overall strategy to recover full costs for services from businesses and Fera estimates that currently it recoups around 40% of the cost of provision.

We are lobbying to raise our objections to the proposed increases, on the basis that the industry has been paying for an incomplete service for many years. Some of the changes being put forward could lead to significant hikes in costs, for example, and in some cases, fees could increase over 100%.

Now we’d like you to add your voice to our campaign by contacting your local MP in advance of the start of the formal consultation which has been revised to take place in September.  We have prepared a template letter which you can use to contact your local MP.

Among the proposals are:

• Import inspection fees: 463% increase for plant health checks; 11% increase for identity checks; 11% increase for documentary checks;
• Plant passport fees: 112% increase in fees for inspections;
• Import services for potatoes originating in Egypt: 273% increase;
• Licence fees: 300% increase in fees for inspection;
• Export certification: 188% increase in fees for inspection, examination of samples and issue of certificate.

FPC will update members as the formal consultation commences. For more information visit: http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/feesChargingReview/

EU Alert - Border rejection

Fera interceptions - harmful organisms

The European Commission has published the revised list of products which are recommended for reduced or increased frequency checks. The majority of changes, with the exception of mango from Brazil which will come into force in October 2011, will be effective in January 2012. The products and their countries of origin which will change are:

The European Food Safety Authority has updated its information on food-borne viruses, the second most important cause of food-borne outbreaks in the EU after Salmonella. EFSA has published a review of the latest scientific knowledge on these viruses, providing advice on possible measures to control and prevent their spread. The assessment recommends among others that mitigating measures should focus on the prevention of contamination rather than removing the virus from contaminated food.

Viruses have been increasingly recognized as important causes of outbreaks of food-borne disease. In 2009, they were responsible for 19% of all outbreaks in the EU causing over 1,000 outbreaks and affecting more than 8,700 citizens. The total number of outbreaks caused by viruses has been increasing since 2007. Food can act as a vehicle for transmitting certain viruses to humans, which in some cases are highly contagious and may lead to widespread outbreaks.

EFSA’s scientific opinion looked at norovirus and hepatitis A viruses in fresh produce, ready-to-eat foods and bivalve molluscs such as oysters, mussels, and scallops, as these are ranked as priority hazards by the World Health Organisation.

For more information on the report see: Scientific Opinion on an update on the present knowledge on the occurrence and control of foodborne viruses or http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/2190.htm

We have been advised by Fera that the European Commission has tabled a general proposal for the lowering of MRLs for non-approved active substances for which consumer concerns have been identified and/or for which authorisations have been withdrawn.

Diphenylamine is one of the actives included in this proposal, and the Commission’s recommendation is that the existing EU MRLs set for apples and pears (5 and 10 mg/kg respectively) should be reduced to the LOD. The reason given is that these residues represent significant exceedences of the acute reference dose.

This proposal is yet to be put into a form for consideration by the EU Standing Committee (so Fera is not in a position to include it as a link on ‘potential and agreed MRLs’ webpage yet), but Fera understands that the Commission intends to submit a formally drafted proposal for consideration and possibly a vote at the October Standing Committee.

With regard to timing, it is difficult to be sure of when any lowered MRLs (if agreed) would come into effect. This would depend on when a vote takes place, and the coming into force date proposed by the Commission (more specifically, whether the implementing Regulation states that the revised MRLs will come into immediate effect on publication, or set a delay to the coming into force date to allow more time for produce to exit the supply chain). The time required for European Parliament and Council scrutiny, and for the Commission’s Legal services to arrange for the Regulation to be issued, must also be factored in.

The Commission has confirmed that if voted in October the implementing Regulation would most likely be published in February but with a six month lead in – meaning that revised MRLs would only come into force in August 2012 at the earliest.

The proposed new maximum levels for nitrate have been adopted by EU member states and should be published later this year. The changes will enter into force on 1 January 2012, with the exception of the level for Rucola which will be effective from 1 April 2012.

The levels are: