Food Safety and Hygiene

WUWM Guide to Good Practice for Wholesale Market Authorities in the European Union (GPG) In 2002 it was agreed to produce a WUWM Guide to Practice for Wholesale Market Authorities in the European Union (GPG) which would be relevant to the operation and management of wholesale markets within the European community. The recommendations of this Guide are applicable to all types of wholesale markets whatever foodstuffs are being sold. It takes into account the recommended International Code of Practice, General Principles of Food Hygiene, the Codex Alimentarius, and existing national guides. Under the chairmanship of Marc Spielrein, president director general of the Paris-Rungis wholesale market, a working team was formed for the drafting of this Guide. The authors being: Mr Rolf Brauer, Berlin Market, Germany (till June 2005) Mr Michel Escoffier, French Federation of Wholesale Markets (FFMIN), France Mr Andreas Foidl, Berlin Market, Germany (from June 2005) Mr Michel Ganneau, Paris-Rungis Market, France Mr Wolf Rohde, Hamburg Market, Germany Mr Graham Wallace, Glasgow Markets, Scotland, UK Mr Matthias Wegner, Hamburg Market, Germany The WUWM GPG was developed in accordance with the following EC Regulations: Regulation (EC) N° 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matter of food safety; Regulation (EC) N° 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs; Regulation (EC) N° 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for hygiene of foodstuffs. The final draft of the WUWM GPG was sent to the European Commission Health and Consumer Protection Directorate (SANCO) with a request that it be considered the Community Guide for the sector (in accordance with Article 9 of EC Regulation No. 852/2004) in January 2006. Some months later SANCO informed WUWM that the Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) had just approved the procedures for the production of community guides, and the Guide was then circulated for the first time to member states, as well as to interested industry partners for comment. It was then distributed a second time, two weeks before convening the working group of the SCFCAH on 11 December 2006. At that time, five Member States (Denmark, France, the UK, Belgium and Cyprus) volunteered to assess the guide and participate in a restricted working group to prepare comments on it. The Commission organised a meeting of those five Member States in February 2007. On completion of this second review process, the WUWM GPG shall be formally adopted as the Community Guide for the wholesale market sector. After adoption it will be made available to the public and food industry via the WUWM and the European Commission’s SANCO website. The GPG is a voluntary instrument and its recommendations are not intended to be compulsory.

WUWM Relations with the European Commission Alongside the GPG, the WUWM European section has actively collaborated with the European Commission on several matters related to food safety and hygiene. These meetings have provided WUWM with the opportunity to directly show the scale and importance of food wholesale markets to the fruit and vegetable trade throughout Europe. Wholesale markets are directly involved in 40% of European fruit and vegetable supply, accommodating more than 80,000 permanent operators, over 153,000 employees, and marketed volumes representing more than 26million tons a year. Since 2003, annual meetings have been held with top level representatives of the Commission, and WUWM has also had members participate in EC technical work team discussions on issues related to food hygiene and health legislation. In other meetings, the issue of “services of general interest” (as defined in the Treaty of the European Union) and its relevance and application to wholesale markets has been discussed, as well as the reform of the Common Market Organization (CMO) for fruit and vegetables, on which the Commission (DG Agriculture) has opened a consultation process. It is the WUWM position to emphasize the need for organizing the production of fresh fruit and vegetables in a way that will provide consumers with quality product, and will allow for a better nutrition of the consumer by increased regular consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables. WUWM Meeting with European Commissioner" Please visit the links below to read further information on two WUWM meetings with European Commission representatives in 2006. - WUWM Meeting with EC Commissioner Markos Kyprianou - WUWM Meeting with European Parliament Minister The WUWM Guide to Good Practice for Wholesale Market Authorities within the European Union is currently available in the member-only section of the WUWM website in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Danish, Greek and Polish. Further translations will be added as they are made available. Please contact Maria Cavit in the WUWM Secretariat if you are not a member but are interested in obtaining a copy of this document."