Meat producers face beefed up costs
New European Union rules on the disposal of byproducts from slaughterhouses and the processing of meat and other animal products will apply in Poland from the beginning of 2004 - unless the government is able to negotiate a delay in their application.
Designed to protect people from the remotest possibility of infection with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and other possible encephalopathy (brain-wasting) diseases, the new legislation can be expected to raise the operating costs of all sections of the Polish meat industry, as well as other important food industry sectors.
"It's a big regulation, changing many things in many plants and the general costs are now unknown because they will affect the private sector," said Jerzy Dowgiałło, the director of the animal production department at the ministry of agriculture and rural development.
The aim of the European Commission is to impose strict controls on the disposal of all byproducts from slaughtering and meat processing, not destined for human consumption. The objective is to eliminate any possible cycle of the infection of food animals and human beings through the contamination of watercourses, pastures and animal feed.
The regulation lays down strict animal and public health rules for the collection, transportation, storage, handling, processing and use or disposal of all animal byproducts (ABPs). These rules were agreed by the EU Council of Ministers last November and should apply throughout the 15 current member states as of May 1, 2003. They will thus form part of the acquis communautaire, which Poland must accept from the beginning of 2004.
Observers, however, say that it is likely that the Polish government will seek a transition period for the gradual application of the new regulation, similar to that already being negotiated by several EU15 governments.
But Dowgiałło said that the country's law would be passed by April and probably come into force in August.
"It is important for health reasons to bring it into force at about the same time that the EU countries do," he said.
Observers also say that it is likely that EU funding will be made available to assist companies to comply. Member state governments have been asked by the commission to assess the impact and costs of the new measure on the affected industries. It is expected that governments will tell the commission that the legislation cannot be effectively implemented by May 1 and that there will have to be transitional measures.
The regulation will affect a wide area of the food industry. It will cover swill (food waste) feeding of livestock, feeding of used cooking oils, material from wastewater, compost and biogas plants, rendering plants and their separation from slaughterhouses, the separation of oleochemical plants, manure processing plants, low capacity incinerators and the disposal of blood.
The provisions of the regulation cover principally animal material collected from primary treatment, in particular animal material retained in the filters and skimming of solids, such as sludge from primary physicochemical treatment processes. The commission believes that this material can easily be collected and disposed of in accordance with the regulation, but some sections of the industry believe otherwise.
The regulation requires that all materials collected when treating wastewater from rendering plants processing category 1 material, such as carcasses of potentially BSE-infected animals and slaughterhouses in which BSE-specified risk material is removed, must be disposed of by incineration, co-incineration or landfill following sterilisation. The only exception to this rule is where such wastewater contains no specified risk material or part of such material. This is in line with the current guidelines of the EU's Scientific Steering Committee. A feature of the new rules which is particularly likely to raise industry costs is the specification that there must be a "complete separation of buildings" between any plant for processing ABPs and slaughterhouses. The commission is convinced that this is vital to avoid cross-contamination or substitution (voluntary or otherwise) between "material intended for human consumption," "material intended for animal consumption" and "material destined for disposal or recovery."
Additional reporting by Roseanne Gerin.
Designed to protect people from the remotest possibility of infection with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and other possible encephalopathy (brain-wasting) diseases, the new legislation can be expected to raise the operating costs of all sections of the Polish meat industry, as well as other important food industry sectors.
"It's a big regulation, changing many things in many plants and the general costs are now unknown because they will affect the private sector," said Jerzy Dowgiałło, the director of the animal production department at the ministry of agriculture and rural development.
The aim of the European Commission is to impose strict controls on the disposal of all byproducts from slaughtering and meat processing, not destined for human consumption. The objective is to eliminate any possible cycle of the infection of food animals and human beings through the contamination of watercourses, pastures and animal feed.
The regulation lays down strict animal and public health rules for the collection, transportation, storage, handling, processing and use or disposal of all animal byproducts (ABPs). These rules were agreed by the EU Council of Ministers last November and should apply throughout the 15 current member states as of May 1, 2003. They will thus form part of the acquis communautaire, which Poland must accept from the beginning of 2004.
Observers, however, say that it is likely that the Polish government will seek a transition period for the gradual application of the new regulation, similar to that already being negotiated by several EU15 governments.
But Dowgiałło said that the country's law would be passed by April and probably come into force in August.
"It is important for health reasons to bring it into force at about the same time that the EU countries do," he said.
Observers also say that it is likely that EU funding will be made available to assist companies to comply. Member state governments have been asked by the commission to assess the impact and costs of the new measure on the affected industries. It is expected that governments will tell the commission that the legislation cannot be effectively implemented by May 1 and that there will have to be transitional measures.
The regulation will affect a wide area of the food industry. It will cover swill (food waste) feeding of livestock, feeding of used cooking oils, material from wastewater, compost and biogas plants, rendering plants and their separation from slaughterhouses, the separation of oleochemical plants, manure processing plants, low capacity incinerators and the disposal of blood.
The provisions of the regulation cover principally animal material collected from primary treatment, in particular animal material retained in the filters and skimming of solids, such as sludge from primary physicochemical treatment processes. The commission believes that this material can easily be collected and disposed of in accordance with the regulation, but some sections of the industry believe otherwise.
The regulation requires that all materials collected when treating wastewater from rendering plants processing category 1 material, such as carcasses of potentially BSE-infected animals and slaughterhouses in which BSE-specified risk material is removed, must be disposed of by incineration, co-incineration or landfill following sterilisation. The only exception to this rule is where such wastewater contains no specified risk material or part of such material. This is in line with the current guidelines of the EU's Scientific Steering Committee. A feature of the new rules which is particularly likely to raise industry costs is the specification that there must be a "complete separation of buildings" between any plant for processing ABPs and slaughterhouses. The commission is convinced that this is vital to avoid cross-contamination or substitution (voluntary or otherwise) between "material intended for human consumption," "material intended for animal consumption" and "material destined for disposal or recovery."
Additional reporting by Roseanne Gerin.
