BFSA - BUSINESS PLAN 2015-2017 Belgian Food Safety Agency

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The BFSA as an organization

Social, economic and administrative context

Stakeholders vision

Strategic and operational objectives 2015-2017

Inspection frequencies

State of affairs of the objectives

STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES 2015-2017 Theme 1 : An efficient organization of food chain monitoring with a view to maximally ensure food chain safety Theme 2 : An appropriate legislative framework and supporting measures to improve food chain safety Theme 3 : An agency accepted by food business FFBO’s and recognized by society and the consumers in particular, both nationally and internationally Theme 4 : An optimal level of services rendered to businesses in the framework of food chain safety and to governments concerning the delegation of tasks Theme 5 : An optimal organizational management

Theme 2 : An appropriate legislative framework and supporting measures to improve food chain safety Printable version   |   Last update on 22.04.2016 Vision Controls and inspections are necessary to allow for proper monitoring of the food chain, but are only fully effective if they are embedded in a more general policy and the right legal context, in which supporting measures should allow FFBO’s to comply with regulations. Legislation and regulations can only be efficiently imposed, if they receive widespread public support. The BFSA will continue to implement the consultation model in which all of the stakeholders, FFBO’s as well as consumers, are sufficiently involved in developing measures. This is done to guarantee that measures are effective, proportional to the objective to be attained and within the limits defined by the European regulatory framework. If somewhat possible, an obligation of result shall be favoured over an obligation of means. The hygiene package is an elaborate collection of prescriptions which have largely proven their usefulness, but which in a number of cases are not fully adapted to the current technological developments. The BFSA will strive, to the best of its abilities, to adjust EU legislation taking into account the latest developments and specific Belgian circumstances. In case European legislation leaves room for a national policy or if exceptional circumstances require a national policy, a careful consideration between different aspects will always have to be made. Taking into account all elements of the precautionary principle, Food Chain Safety will determine the minimal requirements. However, once a sufficient amount of guarantees have been provided, the emphasis will be on the feasibility and the enforceability of the measures, on administrative simplification, on avoiding gold-plating and on supporting FFBO’s. During the negotiations on the EU legislation, the BFSA will strive towards a ‘level playing field’ for the EU market and will try to avoid excessive legislation. Where warranted, the choice will be made to use national derogations. Self-checking remains the cornerstone of the policy, based on clear result commitments adjusted to the FFBO’s’ specific situation. Marketing safe food is a clear result commitment, as is implementing an effective HACCP system or taking effective measures in case non compliant products are placed on the market. In addition to the objectives, the hygiene package also imposes clear obligations of means by providing specific rules that have to be complied with. Deploying the appropriate resources to meet the result commitments and more specifically the implementation of HACCP-systems is not always easy, especially for smaller businesses. In the timeframe of the current business plan, the guides will remain a very important tool that has to further evolve. The guides should also a serve a didactic purpose. For the B2C sector, it will be examined how the requirements can be relaxed, without however compromising the safety level, by emphasizing hygiene prescriptions combined with a further simplified HACCP approach. In addition, complementarity between self-checking guides and privately written guides will have to be strengthened further, so that they constitute a coherent whole with a minimum of red tape. Certification also remains an important tool to guarantee the correct implementation of the selfchecking system. Food chain FFBO’s do not constitute a homogeneous group of businesses. This is not only the case because they have many different products and productions methods, but also because they show very different behaviour. The BFSA will invest more in a policy that takes into account FFBO segmentation based on their attitude regarding the obligations concerning food chain safety. In the past, the BFSA has made considerable efforts to communicate with different groups of stakeholders via different channels and offer them a wide array of trainings. Considering the fast evolution and digitalization of the media, a global information strategy has to be elaborated in which measuring the impact of this strategy has to become an instrument to guide the policy. A well-elaborated and effective traceability between every link of the chain is the only guarantee to be able to quickly intervene in case of food chain incidents without having to resort to draconian measures. This is only possible if businesses have fully developed their internal and external traceability and are able to sufficiently quickly transfer their information to the BFSA. Thorough exercises remain useful, but have to be complemented by agreements on the quick exchange of data geared towards the different sectors. The BFSA will continue to apply the precautionary principle for incidents in which no full risk assessment is possible and take into account all of the factors and principles that are related to this principle (COM 2000-1). Food chain safety is a predominantly international affair. Consequently, it is important that the BFSA has an international network at its disposal which makes it possible to exert influence on EU decision making and facilitate export activities. Strategic and operational objectives       S2.1 The legislation elaborated by the BFSA, or that will be elaborated, will either comply with the following basic principles: legally sound; clear, efficient, proportional to the intended purpose, with a minimum of administrative burden and aimed at attaining the objectives or it will be adjusted to those objectives. The same principles will be defended concerning the Belgian and European legislation the BFSA is contributing to.   O2.1.1 Permanent evaluation of the existing legal framework to meet the principles of the strategic objective.   O2.1.2 The directives will be transposed in due time and where required by the Regulations, the necessary national measures will be provided to complement the EU regulations.       S2.2 FFBO’s active in the food chain have all the necessary tools to elaborate a self-checking system that complies with the legislation and have to be able to get this self-checking system validated in a reliable way.   O2.2.1 The tools for implementing the self-checking systems are available.Theyare aimed at specific needs (both in terms of complexity and in terms of the FFBO type). They are easy to use with a minimum of administrative burden and are actively promoted together with the validation.   O2.2.2 The BFSA guarantees the credibility of validation by the certification organisms.   O2.2.3 Implementing the mandatory validation of the self-checking system for activities that require special attention, such as the production and/or the export of certain groups of foodstuffs, or at the request of the sector organizations.       S2.3 The BFSA has a training and information policy in place that guarantees transparency, provides consumers with the necessary information to safely handle foodstuffs and provides FFBO’s with the necessary tools to comply with regulations.   O2.3.1 Integration of the communication by means of diverse media in a global strategy with measurable objectives.   O2.3.2 A differentiated training and information package aimed at different target groups with special attention for starters as well as FFBO’s that need coaching is available. The training and information is provided in consultation with other authorities and sector organizations involved.       S2.4 The BFSA is sufficiently prepared to manage incidents and crises.   O2.4.1 The BFSA has a policy aimed at preventing incidents and crises as much as possible by efficiently capturing signals that provide indications on the possible occurrence of certain dangers.   O2.4.2 The BFSA has up-to-date crisis scenarios, a structure to manage incidents and crises and tests the readiness of both the organization and the FFBO’s by regularly organizing exercises.   O2.4.3 The BFSA is an active partner in improving the management of food-borne outbreaks.       S2.5 The BFSA has an extensive international network that allows for support of the Belgian policy on an international level.   O2.5.1 Maintain and, where possible, expand the network in the EU in the framework of the HoA, CVO, COPHS, SCOPAFF and within the Codex Alimentarius.

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