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Food safety: Commission urges ROMANIA to correctly apply EU rules on hygiene rules for food
The European Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to Romania regarding the exclusion of certain supplies of products of animal origin from the scope of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004on hygiene rules of food of animal origin, which are accordingly governed by national law, without complying with the conditions for exclusion from the scope of the EU Regulation.
The letter of formal notice also concerns the failure by Romania to comply with certain provisions of the General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 and of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs. Furthermore, the Romanian food hygiene rules apply to goods which are the subject of free movement in the internal market, their observance is compulsory and compliance with them confers a presumption of conformity with the obligations imposed by EU law.
The national food hygiene rules should have therefore been notified at the draft stage under Directive 2015/1535 on technical regulations to allow the Commission to assess their compatibility with EU law.
The failure to notify these rules constitutes a breach of the notification obligations set out in Article 5(1) of Directive 2015/1535. Romania now has three months to take the necessary measures to comply with the letter of formal notice, otherwise the Commission may, if appropriate, issue a reasoned opinion.