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Bruxelles, le 5 septembre 1997
Euro Coop's comments on the commission's green paper on the
general principles of food law in the european union com (97) 176
EURO COOP is the European Community of Consumer Cooperatives. Its members comprise the national organisations of consumer cooperatives in 13 of the 15 member states of the European Union and in 5 central and eastern European countries.
EURO COOP currently represents more than 3200 local or regional cooperatives, membership of which amounts to over 19 million consumers in the European Union and 2 million in the associated countries of central and eastern Europe.
Since its creation in 1957, one of EURO COOP's major objectives is to promote, defend and represent consumer interests at European level.
Created by the consumers for the consumers and for the protection of members' interests, today the consumer cooperatives main activity is the distribution of foodstuffs.
A natural element for consumer cooperatives activity is concern for people. It is consumer cooperatives' task to act for the good of consumers by providing them with healthy and safe food, along with clear and complete consumer information.
To fulfill this objective, consumer cooperatives throughout Europe have developed highly demanding food policies throughout their food chains.
It is on the basis of this long-standing experience that EURO COOP has prepared its comments on the Green Paper on the Principles of Food Law in the European Union.
- Part I : Introduction
- Part II : Simplification and Rationalisation
- General regulatory approach / horizontal or vertical approach
- Role of self-regulation in the foodstuffs sector
- National legislative initiatives
- Part III : Review of existing law
- Transparency of community legislation
- Use of the regulations as an alternative to directives
- Updating legislation to take account of technical and scientific progress
- Rationalisation of definitions used in community foodstuffs legislation
- Food hygiene
- Food quality
- Food labelling
- Part IV : Maintenance of a high level of protection
- The role of scientific advice in the preparation of food safety legislation
- Management of serious and urgent public health risks
- Introduction of a general obligation to ensure that food is safe and wholesome
- Application of the principle of product liability in the foodstuffs sector
- Meeting the new aspirations of consumers
- Part V : Ensuring the effectiveness of internal market rules
- Transposition and application of community law
- Management of the internal market in non-harmonised areas
- Part VI : The external dimension
- The two agreements
- Developments within the codex alimentarius
- Conclusion
EURO COOP SECRETARIAT
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