(1)

Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 establishes the general principles of traceability of food. It provides that the traceability of food must be established at all stages of production, processing and distribution. It also states that food business operators must be able to identify persons from whom they have been supplied with food. Such operators must also be able to identify businesses to which their products have been supplied. This information is to be made available to the competent authorities upon demand.

(2)

Traceability is necessary to ensure food safety and the reliability of information provided to consumers. In particular, it is necessary to apply traceability to food of animal origin to assist in the removal of unsafe food from the market, thereby protecting consumers.

(3)

To achieve the traceability of food as set out in Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the names and addresses of both the food business operator supplying the food and the food business operator to whom the food was supplied are needed. The requirement relies on the ‘one-step back’-‘one-step forward’ approach which implies that food business operators have in place a system enabling them to identify their immediate supplier(s) and their immediate customer(s), except when they are final consumers.

(4)

Food crises in the past have revealed that documentary records were not always sufficient to allow full traceability of suspect foods. During the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (2), Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (3) and Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption (4), experience has shown that food business operators do not generally possess the information needed to ensure that their systems identifying the handling or storage of foods is adequate, in particular in the sector of food of animal origin. This has resulted in this sector to unnecessarily high economic losses due to the lack of quick and full traceability of the food.

(5)

Therefore, it is appropriate to lay down certain rules for the specific sector of food of animal origin to ensure the correct application of the requirements set out in Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. These rules should allow (some) flexibility concerning the format in which relevant information is made available.

(6)

In particular, it is appropriate to provide additional information on the volume or quantity of the food of animal origin, a reference identifying the lot, batch or consignment, as appropriate, a detailed description of the food and the date of dispatch.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

(1)

The representative prices and additional duties applicable to imports of white sugar, raw sugar and certain syrups for the 2010/11 marketing year are fixed by Commission Regulation (EU) No 867/2010 (3). These prices and duties have been last amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 921/2011 (4).

(2)

The data currently available to the Commission indicate that those amounts should be amended in accordance with the rules and procedures laid down in Regulation (EC) No 951/2006,

(1)

According to the Protocol on Transitional Provisions annexed to the Treaty on European Union, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, the legal effects of the acts of the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union adopted prior to the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon are preserved until those acts are repealed, annulled or amended in implementation of the Treaties.

(2)

Accordingly, Article 25 of Decision 2008/615/JHA is applicable and the Council must unanimously decide whether the Member States have implemented the provisions of Chapter 6 of that Decision.

(3)

Article 20 of Decision 2008/616/JHA provides that decisions referred to in Article 25(2) of Decision 2008/615/JHA are to be taken on the basis of an evaluation report based on a questionnaire. With respect to automated data exchange in accordance with Chapter 2 of Decision 2008/615/JHA, the evaluation report is to be based on an evaluation visit and a pilot run.

(4)

According to Chapter 4, point 1.1, of the Annex to Decision 2008/616/JHA, the questionnaire drawn up by the relevant Council Working Group concerns each of the automated data exchanges and has to be answered by a Member State as soon as it believes it fulfils the prerequisites for sharing data in the relevant data category.

(5)

Romania has completed the questionnaire on data protection and the questionnaire on Vehicle Registration Data (VRD).

(6)

A successful pilot run has been carried out by the Netherlands with Romania.

(7)

An evaluation visit has taken place in Romania and a report on the evaluation visit has been produced by the Belgian/Dutch evaluation team and forwarded to the relevant Council Working Group.

(8)

An overall evaluation report, summarising the results of the questionnaire, the evaluation visit and the pilot run concerning VRD has been presented to the Council,