Commission Decision of 5 February 2010 concerning a financial contribution from the Union towards a coordinated monitoring programme on the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in certain ready-to-eat foods to be carried out in the Member States (notified under document C(2010) 592) (2010/75/EU)

Article 1 Subject matter

This Decision establishes a coordinated monitoring programme on the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in certain ready-to-eat food categories provided for in Article 2 at retail level, and lays down rules on a financial contribution from the Union to the Member States for its implementation.

Article 2 Scope and duration of the coordinated monitoring programme

1. The Member States shall carry out a coordinated monitoring programme to assess the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in the following ready-to-eat food categories in samples selected at random at retail level:

(a) packaged (not frozen) hot or cold smoked or gravad fish;

(b) soft or semi-soft cheeses, excluding fresh cheeses;

(c) packaged heat treated meat products.

2. The sampling for the coordinated monitoring programme provided for in paragraph 1 shall be carried out from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010 at the latest.

Article 3 Definitions

For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:

1.

‘ready-to-eat food’ means ready-to-eat food as defined in Article 2(g) of Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005.

2.

‘shelf-life’ means shelf-life as defined in Article 2(f) of Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005.

3.

‘batch’ means batch as defined in Article 2(e) of Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005.

4.

‘retail’ means retail as defined in Article 3(7) of Regulation (EC) No 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 Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety(1); however, for the purposes of this Decision, retail covers only shops, supermarkets and other similar outlets that sell directly to the final consumer; it does not include distribution terminals or centres, catering operations, institutional catering, factory canteens, restaurants and other similar food service operations and wholesale outlets.

5.

‘processing’ means processing as defined in Article 2(1)(m) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs(2).

6.

‘meat products’ means meat products as defined in point 7.1 of Annex I to 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).

7.

‘country of production’ means the country indicated on the identification mark as provided for in point 6 of part B of Section I of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.

8.

‘packaged food’ means food that has its entire surface covered in order to prevent direct contact of the food with the environment, either by permeable or impermeable wrapping.

9.

‘modified atmosphere packaged food’ means food that was packaged and hermetically sealed after the removal of air from the package and the replacement of that air with a strictly controlled gaseous mixture of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and/or nitrogen.

10.

‘vacuum packaged food’ means food that was packaged and hermetically sealed after the removal of the air from the package.

11.

‘smoked fish’ means fish cured by smoking.

12.

‘gravad fish’ means fish that has been cured in salt and sugar without thermal treatment.

13.

‘ripened cheeses’ means cheeses which are not ready for consumption shortly after manufacture but which must be held for such time, at such temperature, and under such other conditions as will result in the necessary biochemical and physical changes characterizing the cheese in question.

14.

‘soft cheeses’ means cheeses that have a percentage moisture, on a fat-free basis, higher than 67 %.

15.

‘semi-soft cheeses’ means cheeses that have a texture which is only slighter harder than the soft cheese category. These cheeses have a percentage moisture, on a fat-free basis, ranging from 62 to 67 %. Semi-soft cheeses are characterized by their firm but elastic feel.

16.

‘mould ripened cheeses’ means cheeses in which the ripening has been accomplished primarily by the development of characteristic mould growth throughout the interior and/or on the surface of the cheese.

17.

‘smear-ripened cheeses’ means cheeses in which during or after ripening, the cheese rind is treated or naturally colonized with desired cultures of microorganisms, for instance Penicillium candidum or Brevibacterium linens. The resulting layer or smear forms a part of the rind.

18.

‘brine matured cheeses’ means cheeses matured and stored in brine until they are sold or packed.

19.

‘fresh cheeses’ means curd-style cheeses which do not undergo any ripening, for example cottage cheese, mozzarella, ricotta and quark. Fresh cheeses are not included in this coordinated monitoring programme.

Article 4 Sampling, analyses and recording of data by the Member States

1. Sampling shall be performed by the competent authority or under its supervision.

2. National reference laboratories for Listeria monocytogenes shall perform the Listeria monocytogenes, pH and water activity analyses.

3. The competent authority may designate other laboratories than the national reference laboratories which are accredited for and involved in official controls of Listeria monocytogenes to perform the Listeria monocytogenes, pH and water activity analyses.

4. The sampling and analyses provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, as well as recording of all relevant data, shall be performed in accordance with the technical specifications set out in Annex I.

5. The number of samples to be taken per ready-to-eat food category in each Member State is set out in Annex II.

Article 5 Collection, assessment, reporting and use of data at Union level

1. Member State shall collect and assess the results of the sampling and Listeria monocytogenes, pH and water activity analyses provided for in Article 4(1), (2) and (3) of this Decision.

Those results and their assessment, together with all relevant data, shall be included in a final report on the completion of the coordinated monitoring programme that shall be transmitted to the Commission before 31 May 2011.

2. The Commission shall establish by the 31 December 2009 the format of the Data Dictionary and data collection forms to be used in the drawing up of the report referred to in paragraph 1 by the competent authorities.

3. The Commission shall forward the final reports provided for in paragraph 1 to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which shall examine them, develop predictive models for the compliance with the Listeria monocytogenes food safety criteria and for the microbial growth under various storage conditions and issue a Summary Report within six months.

4. Any use of the data submitted by the Member States for purposes other than the coordinated monitoring programme shall be subject to prior agreement of the Member States.

5. Data and results shall be made publicly available in a form that ensures confidentiality of the individual results.

Article 6 Conditions for granting a Union financial contribution

1. A financial contribution from the Union of a total amount of 1 555 300 euros from budget line 17 04 02 towards the costs of the analyses provided for in Article 4(2) shall be granted to the Member States up to the maximum total amount for co-financing set out in Annex III.

2. The financial contribution from the Union provided for in paragraph 1 shall be paid to the Member States provided that the coordinated monitoring programme is carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of Union law, including rules on competition and on the award of public contracts, and subject to compliance with the following conditions:

The final report on the completion of the coordinated monitoring programme must be submitted to the Commission before 31 May 2011; the report must contain:

(i)

all the information set out in Part D of Annex I;

(ii)

supporting evidence for the costs incurred by the Member States for the analyses; that evidence must comprise at least the information set out in Annex IV.

3. In the case of late submission of the final report referred to in paragraph 2 the financial contribution from the Union shall be reduced by 25 % on 1 July 2011, 50 % on 1 August 2011 and 100 % on 1 September 2011.

Article 7 Maximum amounts to be reimbursed

The maximum amounts of the financial contribution from the Union towards the costs to be reimbursed to the Member States for each analysis shall not exceed the following:

(a)

EUR 60 for each analysis for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes;

(b)

EUR 60 for each analysis for the enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes;

(c)

EUR 15 for each pH analysis;

(d)

EUR 20 for each water activity (a_w) analysis.

Article 8 Conversion rate for expenditure

Where a Member State’s expenditure is in a currency other than euro, the Member State concerned shall convert it into euro by applying the most recent exchange rate set by the European Central Bank prior to the first day of the month in which the application is submitted by the Member State.

Article 9 Addressees

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 5 February 2010.

For the Commission

Androulla Vassiliou

Member of the Commission