Enforcement of hygiene regulations for egg production (Northern Ireland)

The key proposals are to:

• provide guidance for enforcement bodies on typical inspection points on egg production farms
• provide a standardised farm inspection report form for use when conducting hygiene inspections
• provide guidance notes to accompany the farm inspection report form that give details of the relevant parts of the appropriate legislation and convey the standards that are required to comply with this legislation
• make the guidance available to enforcement bodies, trade organisations and egg producers

Background
A new set of European Commission (EC) consolidated food hygiene regulations applicable throughout the food-chain (from 'farm to fork') came into effect on 1 January 2006.

The introduction of these regulations extended the scope of food hygiene legislation to be applicable on egg production sites for the first time.

Regulation (EC) 852/2004 defines general requirements on the hygiene of foodstuffs and Regulation (EC) 853/2004 lays down specific hygiene requirements for food of animal origin. The Regulations also include specific requirements for egg production sites (specifically annex 1 of EC Regulation 852/2004 and section X, chapter 1 of 853/2004).

Enforcement of the new requirements on egg production sites is undertaken under the auspices of the official feed and food control regulations Regulation (EC) 882/2004. Although the regulation is directly applicable, it is given effect in the UK through parallel statutory instruments in each UK country . These instruments also define the Food Standards Agency as the competent authority for the purposes of the community regulations (except where it has delegated competences as provided for in the community regulations).

Enforcement of the new requirements on egg production sites will be undertaken on behalf of the Agency by the:

• Egg Marketing Inspectorate in England and Wales
• Eggs and Poultry Unit in Scotland
• DARD Quality Assurance Branch in Northern Ireland

To support the effective and consistent enforcement of the new requirements, the Agency contracted ADAS to develop draft guidance on behalf of the Food Standards Agency. Development of this guidance involved piloting the draft guidance through on-farm 'practice' inspections with enforcement inspectors.

To support the guidance, and where required, inspectors have received training to obtain an intermediate certificate in food hygiene and appropriate training in the format and application of the draft guidance materials.

The guidance materials comprise

• A farm inspection report, which takes the form of a checklist with space for recording of comments and observations for the main areas to be inspected
  • birds and housing
  • egg collection and storage
  • hygiene control and personnel
  • record keeping
• guidance notes linked to the inspection report, which give details of how inspections should be conducted and specific requirements from the relevant Regulations, and indicate the areas that inspectors should consider and standards that are expected

The guidance is intended for use by bodies responsible for the enforcement of Regulations (EC) 852/2004 and 853/2004 on egg production sites, trade organisations, assurance schemes and individual egg producers to support the understanding of and assist compliance with the requirements of these regulations.

Impact assessment
This consultation is not accompanied by an impact assessment because the guidance has been developed only to assist the effective enforcement of this legislation, and we believe it does not place any additional demands on industry or enforcement bodies. If as a result of this consultation we receive any evidence that the guidance will impose any additional burden/costs, we will consider the need to produce an impact assessment then, based on that evidence.

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the Better Regulation Executive's Code of Practice on Consultation, which states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including carrying out an Impact Assessment (Regulatory Impact Assessment in Scotland). The assessment is included in the consultation documents.

We are interested in what you thought of this consultation and would therefore welcome your general feedback on both the consultation package and overall consultation process. If you would like to assist us to improve the quality of future consultations, please feel free to share your thoughts with us by using the Consultation Feedback Questionnaire.

Consultation feedback questionnaire (Word)

Consultation feedback questionnaire (pdf)

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness our Information Centre at Aviation House will hold a copy of the completed consultation. Responses will be open to public access upon request. The FSA will also publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name and contact address details. If you do not want this information to be released, please complete and return the Publication of Personal Data Form. Return of this form does not mean that we will treat your response to the consultation as confidential, just your personal data.

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Within three months of a consultation ending we aim to publish a summary of responses received and provide a link to it from this page.

If, after three months, the summary is still not showing, please contact the person who was responsible for the original consultation. Alternatively, you can contact Chris Harvey, the FSA Consultation Co-ordinator, on 020 7276 8630.
Email: chris.harvey@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk