272 seen sooner and the Community’s objective achieved with less upheaval of existing practice. The Commission should also be aware of the wider political impact of its proposals, particularly on food issues where public feelings are so easily aroused. It was particularly heartening to read Mr. Roy Jenkins’ recent speech at the Food Manufacturers’ Federation Conference, because it seems that many of the ideas that I have mentioned are being studied seriously already. It is worth quoting his statement on the harmonization of food law:
&dquo;The only sensible purpose in making such Directives and Regulations is that they should really contribute significantly to consumer protection and permit freer trade within the Community.&dquo; real long-term benefits for us all in the Common Market, and the abolition of non-tariff barriers is an essential part of this, but the retailer’s watchword is ’value for money’, and if that criterion can be applied, then the customer will really benefit. There
are
developing
FOOD LAW AND ITS ENFORCEMENT IN THE EEC
W.
ROBERTS,
Head
o
f Public
B.A., PH.D.,
A ffairs Office,
Consumers’ Association
HE main concerns of Food Law may be identified as the safety, composition, -M- labelling, advertising, hygiene and quantity of food. All Common Market Member States have legislation in these areas but the provisions of those laws, their structures, and even the philosophy underlying them differ markedly from country to country. These differences have, in many cases, an impact on the structure and operation of enforcement systems. The most obvious example is weights and measures legislation. The United Kingdom and Ireland stand out from their EEC partners (with the possible exception of Holland) in using a minimum weight system with the emphasis on retail checks. Most others require a declaration of the average weight of a product and checks in the packing plant. Similarly, differences exist in the structure of laws, though in most cases basic, enabling, legislation is supplemented by more detailed regulations for specific products. On the other hand different countries control the various aspects of food through powers contained in differing areas of the law. Irish weights and measures legislation does not, for example, lay down prescribed this is dealt with by the Merchandise quantities Marks Act. Similarly, in the Netherlands, the Warenwet (Commodity law) deals with all aspects of labelling, including declaration of content whilst the Ilkevet (Weights and Measures law) covers metrology. Further, the number of inspection forces varies from
T
-
country to country as does the
structure of each service.
Italy, Germany, Ireland and to Denmark, the police, or a branch of the police, play a significant role in the detection and prosecution of food law offences. The pattern may even vary within member states according to region or product group. In both Denmark and France, for example, specialist divisions deal with particular products whereas in the Netherlands the Keuringsdienst In
some countries some extent
like
Waren covers all aspects of Food Law enforcement. In France, a branch of the Economic Police deals with food law in Paris, whilst in the rest of the country the task falls to the Service de la Repression des Fraudes, the Inspection Sanitaire et Qualitative des Denrees Animales et d’Origine Animale (IDAOA), and the Service des Instruments de Mesure (SIM). Again, in France a distinction is made between foods of van
animal and non-animal origin. Such a division is common to all of continental Europe, though the extent to which this division is emphasized varies. In Germany, for example, the responsibility of the veterinary officer at the abattoir whilst in France and Denmark this ends is not the case and in these countries the Veterinary Officer may even visit retail butchers or restaurants. In the United Kingdom on the other hand, the role of the veterinarian in meat inspection is far less significant. Here it is environmental health officers and authorized meat inspectors who perform this task except for poultry and export slaughterhouses. Differences occur too in the sanctions which enforcement officers have at their disposal. In many countries control is exercised over food establishments via a registration provision which may be revoked temporarily or permanently if an offence is discovered. Some services may even levy on-the-spot fines, as in Italy, Germany and France which can be contested by the trader but, in practice, rarely are. The degree of flexibility in choosing the course of action differs too. In the United Kingdom where the range of formal sanctions is limited prosecute/ the inspector exercises considerable not-prosecute discretion, whereas in France, where the range of formal sanctions is greater written warning (registered with the tribunal), prosecution of various sorts there appears less scope for the inspector to choose between alternative courses of action. There can be no doubt that changes in UK laws which will come about because of its membership of the Community will have repercussions on its structures of enforcement. The metrology directives, new and complex rules on cosmetic ingredients, the task of monitoring for pesticide residues all imply changes. Last but not least there is the issue of the veterinarians’ role in the enforcement of food law. This short paper does not even attempt to get to grips with the problems mentioned above. It is primarily a description of enforcement practices. It does, however, represent a contribution to a debate on the future of UK enforcement. That debate is long overdue. -
-
-
-
FRANCE
Quality IN most European countries a division is made between foods of animal origin and other foods. In
As
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
273
France, responsibility for the first
area rests with the Service and the second with the Service de la Repression des Fraudes.
Veterinary
Food of Animal Origin IDAOA The division of the Veterinary Service responsible for Meat and Meat Product hygiene is the Inspection Sanitaire et Qualitative des Denrees Animales et d’Origine Animale (IDAOA) within the Ministry of Health. The IDAOA is responsible for all animal products right through from ante-mortem inspections to point of retail. Its ambit thus covers facilities at slaughter houses, conditions of transport of carcases, hygiene at factories and processing plants as well as the state of the finished product in the shop.
Operation IDAOA has a total effective staff of 2,276. Three hundred of these are full Veterinary Inspectors and 1,600 are Sanitary Officials. The Veterinary Service has its own laboratories to undertake analyses. There are 86 local laboratories for routine work and five national ones, the central one being d’Alfort. D’Alfort is responsible for research into general problems while the other four have each developed a specialization in addition to their routine anaylysis work. Much of the work of the central laboratories, however, is devoted to the other side of animal health. It is in the 86 the veterinary service local laboratories that the analysis of food samples is carried out of which, in 1973, there were about 400,000 (200,000 of which were on dairy products). In the same year the Service ordered the withdrawal of 3.7 million tonnes of meat and offal, 1.8 million of poultry, 5,300 of fish and 214 of egg products. -
Other Foods Foods other than those of animal origin are dealt with the Service de la Repression des Fraudes coming under the Ministry of Agriculture, which is divided into two parts: an inspection service and a laboratory service.
by
centres for Oenological Research and have built up a worldwide reputation in this field. (The service is, of course, closely involved with the detection of fraud in the wine trade).
Operation The general pattern of operation is that Inspectors of the Service (except in the Seine Department where the prefecture of police is responsible) visit food shops, markets and factories, collect samples, and look at the general state of the shop from the cleanliness point of view. In addition to their role in enforcing labelling and compositional law the service also handles misdescription and advertising of products other than food textiles for example. These activities led, in 1972, to 12,000 dossiers being sent to the tribunal of which 10,000 gave rise to cases. Of these, 7,500 were judged to be ’contraventions’ (technical infringements dealt with by the police tribunal) and 2,500 were dealt with as delits (more serious offences) by the ’Tribunal Correctionel’, a higher court. Nearly 2,400,000 francs were raised in fines plus a further 16,000,000 in supplementary fines, excise forfeits and seizures. Food ’fraud’ cases also accounted for a total of 9,855 days of imprisonment for those convicted. -
Quantity The Service des Instruments de Mesure (SIM) which comes under the Department of Industry and Research, is a national, centralized service responsible for metrological control in France.
Prepacks
Checking the filling of prepacks is a growing function of the SIM. In 1973, for example, about 100,000 visits to shops and factories were made in connection with this work. Figures for the six months March to September 1974 show that 340 sample batches were checked covering about 20,000 individual prepackages. These 340 samples were divided up as is shown in Table I. TABLEI
The Inspection Service At the highest level is an adminstrative division dealing with policy matters and the framing of legislation. At the centre too are a number of detachments which are not tied to any particular geographical region but who specialize in products, the main ones being the horticultural inspectorate, the draught wines inspectorate and the vintage wine inspectorate. The local inspection service is again highly centralized. The country is divided up into 24 regional areas, each one comprising several departments. These are managed by divisional inspectors who have under their control contract 310 inspectors and 440 ’controleurs’ (technicians who undertake the sampling).
The The
Laboratory Service laboratory service operates in conjunction with five state laboratories (Massey, Montpellier, Rennes, Bordeaux, St. Denis de Reunion) and 115 approved other laboratories (70 bacteriological, 45 physical/chemical). The five state laboratories which together employ fifty scientists and seventy-five laboratory technicians have, like the veterinary laboratories, tended to specialize. Montpellier and Bordeaux, for example, are important
Staff
The SIM has about 440 officers who undertake checks both on prepacks and equipment. 167 of these are technicians who actually perform the checks and 210 inspectors are ’Metrological Engineers’ who have a supervisory function. In addition, 60 Engineers are employed at the national level in a policy forming
capacity.
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
274
Operation
Although SIM is nationally and centrally organized, its inspectors retain (and guard) a large amount of freedom in deciding what to sample, and its role in France seems to be one of guidance. Occasionally the Paris office will issue a circular suggesting a particular ’exercise’ (for example, a lot of checks on petrol pumps or bottles of gas), but this remains much more as guidance than direction. In other words there is no ’official’ sampling policy and the impression is that any form of quota would be strongly resisted by the inspectors in the field. Communication with the centre on a systematic basis is a fairly new activity. Since 1973 inspectors have used pre-coded, standardized reporting forms which, eventually, will be used for a computerized record system. As it is now, the information from them is tabulated by hand and forms the basis for the circulars referred to above. The procedure seems to be that shop checks on prepackaged items provide guidelines for visits to packing plants. In one case, for example, inspectors checking in a supermarket found packages of pasta underweight (these were, significantly, on special offer). The manager was informed and asked to find out where they were packed. After an hour it was found that the batch had come from Lyon. The batch was withdrawn from sale and, the following day, a letter was sent to the SIM inspector in Lyon suggesting a visit to the factory concerned. The practice of contacting the local inspector is an important part of the operation and forms the basis of the informal rules governing the actions of SIM in deciding whether or not to prosecute. SIM has several options open to it on discovering underfilled packs, it can :a) issue a verbal warning which is not official and consists merely of a conversation with the factory/shop manager. b) a written warning this is an official warning, a record of which is lodged with the tribunal c) initiate a prosecution (proces verbal) in the tribunal There are no hard and fast rules governing the course of action SIM will take but in most cases a proces verbal will only be brought where light packages are found in shops and a visit to the factory produces evidence of consistent underfilling. Either of these on its own is likely to lead to a written warning. A verbal warning will follow minor discrepancies such as, for example, badly kept records of quality control or poorly maintained check-weighing equipment. The emphasis is clearly not totally ’repressive’ although SIM describes this side of its work as ’repressif’. Attention is given to finding out exactly what has gone wrong and not just punishing offenders. Because of this the SIM considers it important to be able to identify the packing plant quickly and has therefore drafted legislation requiring labels to carry an identification code designating the packing station. Nevertheless, in 1973, 500 prosecutions were brought and 5,000 written warnings were handed out. In addition 15,000 verbal warnings were issued. -
-
federal legislation though within bounds, they can themselves introduce regulations. The division of responsibilities for foods of animal origin and other foods differs from that of France in that the job of the veterinary service (employing 895 full time veterinarians) ends at the abattoir; once the meat is certified as fit for human consumption the Food Inspection Service (Lebensmitteluberwachung) takes over.
Operation The basic pattern of enforcement is that samples are collected by a semi-skilled branch of the Police (nonuniformed) and delivered to one of 62 state laboratories for analysis. The method of sampling does, however, vary between Lande. In some, for example, the trader is given a portion of the sample, in others he is not. It is on these laboratories that the bulk of the work falls. It is they who draw up a report for submission to the public prosecutor and it is they, rather than the sample takers, who are fully aware of the legal provisions covering foodstuffs. Further, in some areas the laboratories formulate sampling plans. Because of the decentralized nature of the Food Inspection Service and the differences in procedures between Lande it is hard to make many sound generalizations. The problem is compounded by differences in even the way statistics are collected in each Lande the Federal Government lacks complete details of the activities of the service. Finally, because of the role of the police in sampling it is impossible to give meaningful figures of the total personnel at the disposal of the Food Inspection Service. Nevertheless, it is possible to look at the activities of individual regions. Table II gives the number of tests made in five areas (these include tests on non-food items). Taking Hamburg as an example one can see in Table III what kinds of things are tested. Country-wide data on the place and frequency checks too is hard to come by, but in 1972 RheinlandPfalz collected material on this which is reproduced in Table IV. -
TABLE II
TABLE III ,.&dquo;..
~
.
J
I
GERMANY
Quality Food control in Germany is decentralized and the responsibility of the Lande, rather than the Federal Government. In effect the Lande governments enforce
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
..
rr
.
-
.. Y -,.,....
275 check the accuracy of fill. Visits are made at the retail level by the Food Inspection Service who check that foodstuffs at the shop are not filled below the absolute tolerance limits which are laid down in legislation. There is no explicit ’policy’ on what is tested though, in practice, the service appears to concentrate on the most commonly bought foodstuffs and goods of a high unit price. Table V gives a breakdown of the products sampled in 1972.
TABLE IV
TABLE V
Although the Federal Government does not play a leading role in enforcement it has laid down guidelines. A circular of 1936 required the analysis of five food samples per 1000 inhabitants (six for Bavaria). These guidelines do seem, on the basis of our limited information, to be followed. Hesse, with a population of 5.5 million performed slightly fewer than the suggested number of tests: 27,000 as opposed to 27,500. Similarly, in Rheinland-Pfalz 17,655 tests were carried out compared to the five per thousand figures of 18,500. As in most countries the service can exercise some discretion over whether or not to prosecute offenders. In Berlin in 1972, for example, out of 3,246 cases where defects were discovered only 653 cases were passed onto the State Prosecutor. On the other hand, 857 official warnings were issued.
Quantity The enforcement of weights and measures law is the responsibility of the 11 Lande Governments plus Berlin so, again, one encounters difficulty in generalizing for procedure in the country as a whole. However, the basic pattern is that for pre-packed goods, checks are made at the factory and weighing and measuring equipment in use in trade is checked regularly by the local weights and measures office (the Eichamt).
Operation In 1972, 6,500 checks were made on pre-packaged items but the following year there were 16,000. It is estimated that in 1974, a total of 30,000 would be made. Quite clearly, the sampling of pre-packs is a growing task of the weights and measures service in
Germany. Further, the figures given above refer only number if
individual
to
the
sample batches checked not the number of samples weighed or measured. In 1972, for
example, the 6,500 checks accounted for 455,900 actual packages. In the Federal Republic as a whole there were, in 1974, about 40 officers specializing in the statistical checking of prepacks. Of these, 20 were semi-skilled assistants. It is these 40 officers who visit factories and
The Service is developing a policy on sanctions. It tends to issue warnings where the average underfilling is 0.1 per cent or less; recommends fines of between DM50 and DM20 for an average shortfall between 0.1I per cent and 1.0 per cent; recommends fines of up to DM10,000 for deficiencies more than 1.0 per cent. But, if it is shown that the manufacturer has made a profit of more than DM10,000 by underfilling, the court can levy an additional charge to compensate for the illicit
profit. ITALY
Quality As in most European countries, veterinarians play a role in meat inspection but in Italy this role seems fairly limited. Most meat inspection past the point of slaughter is undertaken by non-veterinary meat inspectors although certain veterinarians in the state service (attached to the Ministry of Health) do check on hygiene at butchers’ shops. The pattern of enforcement is that the central government is responsible in collaboration with the communes and the actual checking is done by a branch of the Carabinieri (the paramilitary police force). The particular section involved is the Nucleo Antisofisticazioni (NAS) with a staff of 200 but with the whole of the Carabinieri at the disposal of the NAS for confiscations, inspections and closing down operations. The fact that it is, essentially, a police force seems to affect the modus operandi of the NAS. While the officers involved undergo a special six months training (three months legal, three months practical) they remain ’policemen’ and hence work with police methods. The whole emphasis is on building up a case, by surveillance, the use of informants etc, rather than random sampling of products for analysis. In fact, sampling seems to be the last stage of the investigations and, we understand, a sample is rarely taken unless it is virtually certain it will prove an infringement of the law. The NAS, like the Environmental Health Officers in
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
276 the United
Kingdom, have a fairly wide range of duties, pollution. In Table VI are details including matters of
of activities in the different fields. TABLE VI -
nations. They are employed by the municipalities (in local government districts) but overall supervision is from the Ministry of Health. 644 veterinarians are involved (on a part or full time basis) with meat
inspection. Other Foods The original
legislation, passed in 1890, and subsequently replaced by the law of 20th June, 1964, makes the Food Inspection Service called, as in France, the Service de la Repression des Fraudes, responsible for enforcing the food law at all stages in the production, transportation and selling process.
NAS Activities in 1973 These activities gave rise, in 1973, to 1,505 prosecutions of which 1,243 (82 per cent) were successful. The sentences amounted to a total of over 17 years imprisonment and fines of 322,571,393 lire. The NAS may, however, administer on-the-spot fines for less serious offences rather than take the trader to court. Indeed this seems a widespread practice given that in 1973 such fines totalled 1,604,622,422 lire. (All of which went toward the cost of running the NAS). The NAS has further powers it can close down food establishments pending a court hearing. This power is achieved via registration provisions. All food shops, hawkers, food factories and restaurants must be registered wth the Regional Health Department and must be inspected prior to opening. After this, inspection is periodic but if an offence is discovered the inspector can revoke registration pending a court hearing. The establishment cannot be re-opened until it has been checked over. In 1973, 22,017 establishments were inspected and 116 w c re closed down. -
Quantity Little information is available on the structure or operation of the Italian weights and measures legislation. The Ufficio Metrico handles verification of equipment but it is the NAS who check on accuracy of fill pre-packs and the honest use of weighing and measuring apparatus. It appears, however, that the NAS acts only in cases where evidence of irregularities have come to light it does not, apparently, make random checks. -
BELGIUM
Quality Meat Inspection Until 1890 meat inspection was the responsibility of local government. After that date enforcement was handed over to a state meat inspection service under the Ministry of Health. The service is not solely responsible for meat hygiene. It is also concerned with any fraud concerning meat products. The law requires ante- and postmortem examinations in all cases except pigs, sheep and
goats slaughtered for
own consumption and not put on the market. Commercial slaughtering is permitted only in recognized establishments. Meat for export to other EEC countries must come only from EEC approved and licensed abattoirs. Only veterinary meat inspectors are allowed to undertake ante and post mortem exami-
For the purposes of enforcement the country is divided into 15 districts each with a chief inspector who must hold a diploma in chemistry. Beneath these 15 inspectors are 65 ’controleurs’ who are not specially trained but who must have a good general education. Samples are collected by the Food Inspection Service and analysed by an approved local laboratory. Generally the sample is divided into 3 with one portion for the trader, one for the inspector and one at the disposal of the tribunal in case it wishes a further analysis to be carried out. In 1973, 6,373 samples were taken and these led to 582 prosecutions. Apart from sample taking the inspectors must also carry out general checks, e.g. for hygiene, in shops, markets, factories etc. Some 110,000 such visits are made annually.
Quantity The Belgian weights and measures inspection service is part of the Inspection Generale Economique under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is responsible for verifying the accuracy of weighing and measuring equipment and ensuring its honest use. The main job of the weights and measures service is the initial and periodic verification of weighing and measuring equipment. The law gives them responsibility for measures of length, capacity, weight, gas meters, measures of liquids other than water and liquid gas taximeters. The ’preventive’ side of weights and measures law is thus handled entirely by the Weights and Measures Service. The ’repressive’ aspect is shared with a section of the Inspection Generale Economique (IGE). There is no systematic checking on the honest use of equipment. Rather, spot checks are made by this section. It is, however, the agents of the weights and measures service who often detect offences in the course of their verification work. The policy of the service appears to be that if a straight infraction is found a prosecution will be brought immediately. If, on the other hand, there is some doubt the inspector will deliver a written warning and place the trader, for a time, under the supervision of the section of the IGE referred to above. If he infringes the law again then a prosecution will be
brought.
For enforcement purposes the country is divided into five districts. The technical staff of the service comprises : 1 Director, 7 Chief Technical Engineers, 36 other Technical Engineers, 20 Trainees, 41 Assistants. NETHERLANDS Quality and Quantity. In most European countries the responsibility for the enforcement of Food Law (composition, labelling etc) and weights and measures law is divided between two services. In the Netherlands this distinction is less noticeable as just one organization, the Keuringsdienst van Waren, is responsible for the enforcement of the
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
277 TABLE VII STAFF: No.
Analysts
-
190; Inspectors
covered by Act
annually
89,259
372,702
131; Others
No. of negative
Analyses
No. visits made
firms
-
results
451,886
29,405
Official warnings
138. Prosecutions
32,018
5,663
-
TABLE VIII
Places of sale Street and Market trade Mobile shops Auctions and Fish auctions
Inspections Warnings Prosecutions 5811
-
1,059 6,275
155 58 1 40 264
8,959
378
68
156
163 68
48 111
1,016 28
Supermarkets Small shops TOTAL:
5 23 1 39
Places of preparation
Agricultural
concerns
Bakers and patisseries Ice cream production Catering establishments Home Industry and Social
1,770 136
6,621
workshops
-
Poulterers Butchers
154
1,580 56 143
Fishmongers Others TOTAL : Factories Bread and pastry Beer and spirits Chocolate and confectionery Ice cream
Vegetable
Raw materials ’
etc.
oils and fats Flour and flour products Milk and dairy products Meat products Game and Poultry Other
Margarine,
TOTAL:
Warehouses G. TOTAL:
-
3 5 -
3
-
26 -
-
1 -
-
10,5155
422
87
1155 18 24 30 25 5 65 2 3 209 58 12 105
8
4
DENMARK
conserves
Jams, Lemonade,
-
180
France and often in Germany). Second, the inspectors are more than just ’sample takers’. They are well qualified in all aspects of food control and are thus able to pick up problems that a less-skilled investigator would miss. Inspectors are, apparently, recruited largely on the basis of previous experience in the food industry and a minimum educational requirement is set, the equivalent to ’A’ levels in the UK. The principal Act which the Keuringsdienst van Waren enforces is the Warenwet (merchandise law). This is, basically, enabling legislation under which specific regulations have been made since the passage of the Act in 1919. In this, the pattern is similar to the United Kingdom Food and Drugs Act but one interesting difference is that businesses covered by the Act are required to contribute to its enforcement. Their total contributions represent one quarter of the running costs of the service. Perhaps for this reason, information on the number of businesses covered in each area is readily available. Equally, because of the efficient and systematic method of collecting statistics it is possible to give an overall picture of Food Inspection in the Netherlands. In Table VII details of the Keuringsdienst van Waren’s work for 1972 are provided. In Table VIII details for the town of Maastricht of where inspections were made in 1972 are given.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
1
-
-
-
-
5
3
-
-
-
-
2
1
671
20
9
1,555 21,801
32 852
6 170
law in both areas. Although the metrology side of weights and measures falls to a separate service it is the Keuringsdienst van Waren who check on the quantity and quality of foodstuffs in Holland. This applies equally to foods of animal origin once they have been certified as fit for human consumption by a qualified veterinary officer. The State Veterinary Service, (administered locally in 158 Meat Inspection Districts) comprising 253 full time and 95 part time veterinarians is thus responsible for ante and post mortem examinations but from that point on the task of enforcing the Food Law falls to the Keuringsdienst van Waren.
Operation The Keuringsdienst van Waren is administered locally, by the 14 municipalities (Local Government Districts). Again, this fact makes generalizations harder, but on the other hand each service presents an annual report detailing its work. These reports are the source of all the data reported in this section. The pattern established is that samples are collected by inspectors of the Keuringsdienst van Waren and sent for analysis to the local municipal laboratory. Two departures from the French and German system should, however, be noted. First, the trader does not usually get a sample himself (as he always does in
Quality The structure of Food Law enforcement in Denmark is complex. The basic he pattern is of local enforcement backed up, in the case of meat and meat products, by a national service of veterinarians. But these veterinarians, because of the enormous Danish meat and meat products industry, play an important role in enforcement. Meat control, including the slaughtering of animals and poultry rests with a government agency called the Veterinary Directorate. The head agency is situated in Copenhagen, but inspectors have offices in five different cities in Denmark. All slaughterhouses are under the supervision of a veterinary surgeon who is responsible to the Ministry of Agriculture. The chief veterinarian will in most cases have an assistant veterinarian and one or more technical assistants. In all 200 chief veterinarians, 200 assistant veterinarians and about 200 technical assistants are involved in the daily supervision of slaughterhouses etc. Moreover, 600 veterinary surgeons are occupied parttime in checking meat. The above applies to slaughterhouses etc. authorized for export but more than 90 per cent of all meat plants are authorized for export. Also private slaughterhouses not authorized for export must have approval from the Veterinary Directorate. Meat shops must have approval from the town council which will have assistance from a veterinary surgeon only if approved by the Veterinary Directorate. The control of dairy products, e.g. butter, cheese, ice cream, and eggs, rests with the Government Inspectorate of Dairy Products. This inspectorate has its head office in Copenhagen and offices in four other cities and including technical assistants, comprises about 100 men.
The control of fish and fish products is enacted by a special government inspectorate of fish. This agency has its head office in Copenhagen, but there are 30 small offices spread around the country. Its total staff is about 100.
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
278
The inspection of milk for human consumption rests with the city councils with the assistance of the city veterinarians. In about 45 towns there are municipal laboratories headed by the town veterinarian who is assisted by other veterinary surgeons and a staff of technicians. The total staff amounts to about 500 persons. Each herd from which milk for human consumption is obtained will be examined by a veterinary surgeon 2-4 times a year, and the raw milk will be examined in the laboratories for general bacterial content and pathogenic bacteria. Also the content of milk fat will be checked. In 1972, 185,000 samples were drawn and examined. Samples are taken in the dairies and in retail shops. Milk inspection in the municipality laboratories is under the supervision of a special department in the Veterinary Directorate. Checks on other foodstuffs in general are regulated by the Food Act of 6 June 1973. The local authority will be the city council with assistance from the city veterinarian and the local laboratories as mentioned above. Any plant manufacturing foodstuffs has to be authorized by the Veterinary Directorate which supervises them and is responsible to the Ministry of the Environment. The Danish Food Act of 1973 requires that food retailing, packing, repacking, transport companies be approved by the local council before commencing trade. The same applies to canteens and boarding houses with more than twelve permanent residents. Further, approval must be obtained following a change of ownership of the business, major changes in the product or range of products being handled or important changes in buildings. In any case, approval and registration is reconsidered every five years. The enforcement of hygiene regulations in these concerns falls to the local council assisted by the municipal veterinary officer who may be authorized to act on behalf of the local council. If a municipal veterinary officer is so authorized and if he does discover unhygienic practices he may close down the establishment immediately. If he thinks it necessary he can propose that the local council withdraw registration.
Weights and Measures The
metrological side of Weight and Measures law (verification of weighing and measuring equipment) is dealt with by the Justervaesenet, a self-financing service which gets its income from fees and the sale of certain measuring equipment of which it is the sole supplier. The law requires that weighing and measuring equipment used in trade be checked every four years. In practice tests are often more frequent. For example,
TOXOCARIASIS continued from page 280 17 MOORE, M. T. (1962), Human Toxocara Canis Encephalitis with Lead Encephalopathy, Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 21, 201. 18 SCHOENFIELD, A. E., GHITNIC, E. and ROSEN. N. (1964), Granulomatous Encephalitis Due to Toxocara Larvae (Visceral Larva Migrans), Harefuah, 66, 337. 19 LEWIS, E. A. (1927), A study of the Helminths of Dogs and Cats of Aberystwyth, Wales, 5, 171. 20 HUTCHINSON, W. M. (1957), The Incidence and Distribution of Hydatigera Taeniaeformis and other Intestinal Helminths in Scottish Cats, Journal of Parasitology, 43 , 318. 21 WOODRUFF, A. W., THACKER, C. K., and SHAH, A. I. (1964), Infection with Animal Helminths, British Medical Journal, 1, 1001. 22 OLDHAM. J. N. (1965), Observations on the Incidence of Toxocara and Toxascaris in Dogs and Cats from the London Area , Journal of Helminthology, 39, 251. 23 DUBEY, J. P. (1966) Toxocara cati and other Intestinal Parasites of Cats, Veterinary Record, 79, 506.
although shop scales are verified once every four years, liquid measuring systems (e.g. petrol pumps) are checked annually. The checking of fill of prepacks is handled by a different service, the Monopoltilsynet, which has other duties as well (e.g. price control). In 1972 it made 222 control visits and discovered 39 infringements of weights and measures law. These led to 31 written warnings and one successful prosecution. IRELAND ’
Quality The principal Act is the Food Standards Act of 1974. It is enforced locally by about 170 Health Inspectors who take about 10,000 samples annually. These are analysed at local laboratories appointed by the regional health boards. Attempts are being made to persuade local authorities to adopt ’planned programmes of sampling on a regional (not a county) basis aimed at securing a well balanced selection of commodities’. The work of analysis is concentrated in two centres, Dublin and Galway. Galway serves 13 counties and Dublin the rest. In 1971 a total of 8,747 samples were tested and 216 (or 2.5 (6,139 in Dublin and 2,608 in per cent) were found defective. The range of defective 10 per cent in Galway samples was, however, large to zero in Roscommon, for example. one part to the Samples are divided into three trader, one to the analyst and one kept by the Inspector who may produce the sample in court for testing by the state chemist who acts as a ’referee.’
Galway)
-
-
Weights and Measures Generally speaking it is the police who are responsible for weights and measures legislation in Ireland. Outside the Dublin area 51 specially trained policemen undertake the verification and periodic checking of weighing
and measuring equipment. In Dublin the task falls to 12 inspectors employed by the local authority. Weights and measures legislation in Ireland, however, deals only with metrology requirements as to weight marking, and prescribed quantities are covered by the 1974 Merchandise Marks Act. It appears, nevertheless, that these same officers will enforce this legislation too. The ratio of three million population to 63 inspectors can give some idea of the scale of the task involved. It is perhaps more informative to relate the number of inspectors to the number of premises to be inspected. The aim of the service is to allocate one inspector per 700 premises. In Dublin, the only area we have figures for, the number is about 1 per 1000. These papers were presented at a conference of the Society held in London, 19 May 1977 24
NIAK, A. (1972) The Prevalence of Toxacara cati and other Para-
sites in Liverpool Cats, Veterinary Record, 91, 534. WESTON. R. (1973) Endoparasites in Cats Supplied for Laboratory Journal of Science Technology, 17, No. 5, 2. 26 JORDAN. W. J. (1973), Pets and Population, Journal of Small Animal Practice, 14 , 669. 27 SHERIDAN. J. P. (1975) Dogs, Cats and other Pets, The Practitioner, 215, 172. 28 MANSI. W. (1977) Personal Communication. 29 WOODRUFF. A. W. (1976) Toxocariasis as a Public Health Problem, Environmental Health, 2, 29. 30 CHURCHER. S. W. (1976) A Review of Some of the Risks to Human Health from Dogs, Environmental Health, 2, 220. 31 FABEL. J. M. A. (1976) Control of Communicable Diseases, Runnymede District Council Minute 406, 261. 32 FABEL. J. M. A. (1976) Personal Communication. 33 BISSERU. B. (1967) Diseases of Man Acquired from his Pets, Heineman. 25
Use,
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
&dquo;The only sensible purpose in making such Directives and Regulations is that they should really contribute significantly to consumer protection and permit freer trade within the Community.&dquo; real long-term benefits for us all in the Common Market, and the abolition of non-tariff barriers is an essential part of this, but the retailer’s watchword is ’value for money’, and if that criterion can be applied, then the customer will really benefit. There
are
developing
FOOD LAW AND ITS ENFORCEMENT IN THE EEC
W.
ROBERTS,
Head
o
f Public
B.A., PH.D.,
A ffairs Office,
Consumers’ Association
HE main concerns of Food Law may be identified as the safety, composition, -M- labelling, advertising, hygiene and quantity of food. All Common Market Member States have legislation in these areas but the provisions of those laws, their structures, and even the philosophy underlying them differ markedly from country to country. These differences have, in many cases, an impact on the structure and operation of enforcement systems. The most obvious example is weights and measures legislation. The United Kingdom and Ireland stand out from their EEC partners (with the possible exception of Holland) in using a minimum weight system with the emphasis on retail checks. Most others require a declaration of the average weight of a product and checks in the packing plant. Similarly, differences exist in the structure of laws, though in most cases basic, enabling, legislation is supplemented by more detailed regulations for specific products. On the other hand different countries control the various aspects of food through powers contained in differing areas of the law. Irish weights and measures legislation does not, for example, lay down prescribed this is dealt with by the Merchandise quantities Marks Act. Similarly, in the Netherlands, the Warenwet (Commodity law) deals with all aspects of labelling, including declaration of content whilst the Ilkevet (Weights and Measures law) covers metrology. Further, the number of inspection forces varies from
T
-
country to country as does the
structure of each service.
Italy, Germany, Ireland and to Denmark, the police, or a branch of the police, play a significant role in the detection and prosecution of food law offences. The pattern may even vary within member states according to region or product group. In both Denmark and France, for example, specialist divisions deal with particular products whereas in the Netherlands the Keuringsdienst In
some countries some extent
like
Waren covers all aspects of Food Law enforcement. In France, a branch of the Economic Police deals with food law in Paris, whilst in the rest of the country the task falls to the Service de la Repression des Fraudes, the Inspection Sanitaire et Qualitative des Denrees Animales et d’Origine Animale (IDAOA), and the Service des Instruments de Mesure (SIM). Again, in France a distinction is made between foods of van
animal and non-animal origin. Such a division is common to all of continental Europe, though the extent to which this division is emphasized varies. In Germany, for example, the responsibility of the veterinary officer at the abattoir whilst in France and Denmark this ends is not the case and in these countries the Veterinary Officer may even visit retail butchers or restaurants. In the United Kingdom on the other hand, the role of the veterinarian in meat inspection is far less significant. Here it is environmental health officers and authorized meat inspectors who perform this task except for poultry and export slaughterhouses. Differences occur too in the sanctions which enforcement officers have at their disposal. In many countries control is exercised over food establishments via a registration provision which may be revoked temporarily or permanently if an offence is discovered. Some services may even levy on-the-spot fines, as in Italy, Germany and France which can be contested by the trader but, in practice, rarely are. The degree of flexibility in choosing the course of action differs too. In the United Kingdom where the range of formal sanctions is limited prosecute/ the inspector exercises considerable not-prosecute discretion, whereas in France, where the range of formal sanctions is greater written warning (registered with the tribunal), prosecution of various sorts there appears less scope for the inspector to choose between alternative courses of action. There can be no doubt that changes in UK laws which will come about because of its membership of the Community will have repercussions on its structures of enforcement. The metrology directives, new and complex rules on cosmetic ingredients, the task of monitoring for pesticide residues all imply changes. Last but not least there is the issue of the veterinarians’ role in the enforcement of food law. This short paper does not even attempt to get to grips with the problems mentioned above. It is primarily a description of enforcement practices. It does, however, represent a contribution to a debate on the future of UK enforcement. That debate is long overdue. -
-
-
-
FRANCE
Quality IN most European countries a division is made between foods of animal origin and other foods. In
As
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
273
France, responsibility for the first
area rests with the Service and the second with the Service de la Repression des Fraudes.
Veterinary
Food of Animal Origin IDAOA The division of the Veterinary Service responsible for Meat and Meat Product hygiene is the Inspection Sanitaire et Qualitative des Denrees Animales et d’Origine Animale (IDAOA) within the Ministry of Health. The IDAOA is responsible for all animal products right through from ante-mortem inspections to point of retail. Its ambit thus covers facilities at slaughter houses, conditions of transport of carcases, hygiene at factories and processing plants as well as the state of the finished product in the shop.
Operation IDAOA has a total effective staff of 2,276. Three hundred of these are full Veterinary Inspectors and 1,600 are Sanitary Officials. The Veterinary Service has its own laboratories to undertake analyses. There are 86 local laboratories for routine work and five national ones, the central one being d’Alfort. D’Alfort is responsible for research into general problems while the other four have each developed a specialization in addition to their routine anaylysis work. Much of the work of the central laboratories, however, is devoted to the other side of animal health. It is in the 86 the veterinary service local laboratories that the analysis of food samples is carried out of which, in 1973, there were about 400,000 (200,000 of which were on dairy products). In the same year the Service ordered the withdrawal of 3.7 million tonnes of meat and offal, 1.8 million of poultry, 5,300 of fish and 214 of egg products. -
Other Foods Foods other than those of animal origin are dealt with the Service de la Repression des Fraudes coming under the Ministry of Agriculture, which is divided into two parts: an inspection service and a laboratory service.
by
centres for Oenological Research and have built up a worldwide reputation in this field. (The service is, of course, closely involved with the detection of fraud in the wine trade).
Operation The general pattern of operation is that Inspectors of the Service (except in the Seine Department where the prefecture of police is responsible) visit food shops, markets and factories, collect samples, and look at the general state of the shop from the cleanliness point of view. In addition to their role in enforcing labelling and compositional law the service also handles misdescription and advertising of products other than food textiles for example. These activities led, in 1972, to 12,000 dossiers being sent to the tribunal of which 10,000 gave rise to cases. Of these, 7,500 were judged to be ’contraventions’ (technical infringements dealt with by the police tribunal) and 2,500 were dealt with as delits (more serious offences) by the ’Tribunal Correctionel’, a higher court. Nearly 2,400,000 francs were raised in fines plus a further 16,000,000 in supplementary fines, excise forfeits and seizures. Food ’fraud’ cases also accounted for a total of 9,855 days of imprisonment for those convicted. -
Quantity The Service des Instruments de Mesure (SIM) which comes under the Department of Industry and Research, is a national, centralized service responsible for metrological control in France.
Prepacks
Checking the filling of prepacks is a growing function of the SIM. In 1973, for example, about 100,000 visits to shops and factories were made in connection with this work. Figures for the six months March to September 1974 show that 340 sample batches were checked covering about 20,000 individual prepackages. These 340 samples were divided up as is shown in Table I. TABLEI
The Inspection Service At the highest level is an adminstrative division dealing with policy matters and the framing of legislation. At the centre too are a number of detachments which are not tied to any particular geographical region but who specialize in products, the main ones being the horticultural inspectorate, the draught wines inspectorate and the vintage wine inspectorate. The local inspection service is again highly centralized. The country is divided up into 24 regional areas, each one comprising several departments. These are managed by divisional inspectors who have under their control contract 310 inspectors and 440 ’controleurs’ (technicians who undertake the sampling).
The The
Laboratory Service laboratory service operates in conjunction with five state laboratories (Massey, Montpellier, Rennes, Bordeaux, St. Denis de Reunion) and 115 approved other laboratories (70 bacteriological, 45 physical/chemical). The five state laboratories which together employ fifty scientists and seventy-five laboratory technicians have, like the veterinary laboratories, tended to specialize. Montpellier and Bordeaux, for example, are important
Staff
The SIM has about 440 officers who undertake checks both on prepacks and equipment. 167 of these are technicians who actually perform the checks and 210 inspectors are ’Metrological Engineers’ who have a supervisory function. In addition, 60 Engineers are employed at the national level in a policy forming
capacity.
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
274
Operation
Although SIM is nationally and centrally organized, its inspectors retain (and guard) a large amount of freedom in deciding what to sample, and its role in France seems to be one of guidance. Occasionally the Paris office will issue a circular suggesting a particular ’exercise’ (for example, a lot of checks on petrol pumps or bottles of gas), but this remains much more as guidance than direction. In other words there is no ’official’ sampling policy and the impression is that any form of quota would be strongly resisted by the inspectors in the field. Communication with the centre on a systematic basis is a fairly new activity. Since 1973 inspectors have used pre-coded, standardized reporting forms which, eventually, will be used for a computerized record system. As it is now, the information from them is tabulated by hand and forms the basis for the circulars referred to above. The procedure seems to be that shop checks on prepackaged items provide guidelines for visits to packing plants. In one case, for example, inspectors checking in a supermarket found packages of pasta underweight (these were, significantly, on special offer). The manager was informed and asked to find out where they were packed. After an hour it was found that the batch had come from Lyon. The batch was withdrawn from sale and, the following day, a letter was sent to the SIM inspector in Lyon suggesting a visit to the factory concerned. The practice of contacting the local inspector is an important part of the operation and forms the basis of the informal rules governing the actions of SIM in deciding whether or not to prosecute. SIM has several options open to it on discovering underfilled packs, it can :a) issue a verbal warning which is not official and consists merely of a conversation with the factory/shop manager. b) a written warning this is an official warning, a record of which is lodged with the tribunal c) initiate a prosecution (proces verbal) in the tribunal There are no hard and fast rules governing the course of action SIM will take but in most cases a proces verbal will only be brought where light packages are found in shops and a visit to the factory produces evidence of consistent underfilling. Either of these on its own is likely to lead to a written warning. A verbal warning will follow minor discrepancies such as, for example, badly kept records of quality control or poorly maintained check-weighing equipment. The emphasis is clearly not totally ’repressive’ although SIM describes this side of its work as ’repressif’. Attention is given to finding out exactly what has gone wrong and not just punishing offenders. Because of this the SIM considers it important to be able to identify the packing plant quickly and has therefore drafted legislation requiring labels to carry an identification code designating the packing station. Nevertheless, in 1973, 500 prosecutions were brought and 5,000 written warnings were handed out. In addition 15,000 verbal warnings were issued. -
-
federal legislation though within bounds, they can themselves introduce regulations. The division of responsibilities for foods of animal origin and other foods differs from that of France in that the job of the veterinary service (employing 895 full time veterinarians) ends at the abattoir; once the meat is certified as fit for human consumption the Food Inspection Service (Lebensmitteluberwachung) takes over.
Operation The basic pattern of enforcement is that samples are collected by a semi-skilled branch of the Police (nonuniformed) and delivered to one of 62 state laboratories for analysis. The method of sampling does, however, vary between Lande. In some, for example, the trader is given a portion of the sample, in others he is not. It is on these laboratories that the bulk of the work falls. It is they who draw up a report for submission to the public prosecutor and it is they, rather than the sample takers, who are fully aware of the legal provisions covering foodstuffs. Further, in some areas the laboratories formulate sampling plans. Because of the decentralized nature of the Food Inspection Service and the differences in procedures between Lande it is hard to make many sound generalizations. The problem is compounded by differences in even the way statistics are collected in each Lande the Federal Government lacks complete details of the activities of the service. Finally, because of the role of the police in sampling it is impossible to give meaningful figures of the total personnel at the disposal of the Food Inspection Service. Nevertheless, it is possible to look at the activities of individual regions. Table II gives the number of tests made in five areas (these include tests on non-food items). Taking Hamburg as an example one can see in Table III what kinds of things are tested. Country-wide data on the place and frequency checks too is hard to come by, but in 1972 RheinlandPfalz collected material on this which is reproduced in Table IV. -
TABLE II
TABLE III ,.&dquo;..
~
.
J
I
GERMANY
Quality Food control in Germany is decentralized and the responsibility of the Lande, rather than the Federal Government. In effect the Lande governments enforce
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
..
rr
.
-
.. Y -,.,....
275 check the accuracy of fill. Visits are made at the retail level by the Food Inspection Service who check that foodstuffs at the shop are not filled below the absolute tolerance limits which are laid down in legislation. There is no explicit ’policy’ on what is tested though, in practice, the service appears to concentrate on the most commonly bought foodstuffs and goods of a high unit price. Table V gives a breakdown of the products sampled in 1972.
TABLE IV
TABLE V
Although the Federal Government does not play a leading role in enforcement it has laid down guidelines. A circular of 1936 required the analysis of five food samples per 1000 inhabitants (six for Bavaria). These guidelines do seem, on the basis of our limited information, to be followed. Hesse, with a population of 5.5 million performed slightly fewer than the suggested number of tests: 27,000 as opposed to 27,500. Similarly, in Rheinland-Pfalz 17,655 tests were carried out compared to the five per thousand figures of 18,500. As in most countries the service can exercise some discretion over whether or not to prosecute offenders. In Berlin in 1972, for example, out of 3,246 cases where defects were discovered only 653 cases were passed onto the State Prosecutor. On the other hand, 857 official warnings were issued.
Quantity The enforcement of weights and measures law is the responsibility of the 11 Lande Governments plus Berlin so, again, one encounters difficulty in generalizing for procedure in the country as a whole. However, the basic pattern is that for pre-packed goods, checks are made at the factory and weighing and measuring equipment in use in trade is checked regularly by the local weights and measures office (the Eichamt).
Operation In 1972, 6,500 checks were made on pre-packaged items but the following year there were 16,000. It is estimated that in 1974, a total of 30,000 would be made. Quite clearly, the sampling of pre-packs is a growing task of the weights and measures service in
Germany. Further, the figures given above refer only number if
individual
to
the
sample batches checked not the number of samples weighed or measured. In 1972, for
example, the 6,500 checks accounted for 455,900 actual packages. In the Federal Republic as a whole there were, in 1974, about 40 officers specializing in the statistical checking of prepacks. Of these, 20 were semi-skilled assistants. It is these 40 officers who visit factories and
The Service is developing a policy on sanctions. It tends to issue warnings where the average underfilling is 0.1 per cent or less; recommends fines of between DM50 and DM20 for an average shortfall between 0.1I per cent and 1.0 per cent; recommends fines of up to DM10,000 for deficiencies more than 1.0 per cent. But, if it is shown that the manufacturer has made a profit of more than DM10,000 by underfilling, the court can levy an additional charge to compensate for the illicit
profit. ITALY
Quality As in most European countries, veterinarians play a role in meat inspection but in Italy this role seems fairly limited. Most meat inspection past the point of slaughter is undertaken by non-veterinary meat inspectors although certain veterinarians in the state service (attached to the Ministry of Health) do check on hygiene at butchers’ shops. The pattern of enforcement is that the central government is responsible in collaboration with the communes and the actual checking is done by a branch of the Carabinieri (the paramilitary police force). The particular section involved is the Nucleo Antisofisticazioni (NAS) with a staff of 200 but with the whole of the Carabinieri at the disposal of the NAS for confiscations, inspections and closing down operations. The fact that it is, essentially, a police force seems to affect the modus operandi of the NAS. While the officers involved undergo a special six months training (three months legal, three months practical) they remain ’policemen’ and hence work with police methods. The whole emphasis is on building up a case, by surveillance, the use of informants etc, rather than random sampling of products for analysis. In fact, sampling seems to be the last stage of the investigations and, we understand, a sample is rarely taken unless it is virtually certain it will prove an infringement of the law. The NAS, like the Environmental Health Officers in
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
276 the United
Kingdom, have a fairly wide range of duties, pollution. In Table VI are details including matters of
of activities in the different fields. TABLE VI -
nations. They are employed by the municipalities (in local government districts) but overall supervision is from the Ministry of Health. 644 veterinarians are involved (on a part or full time basis) with meat
inspection. Other Foods The original
legislation, passed in 1890, and subsequently replaced by the law of 20th June, 1964, makes the Food Inspection Service called, as in France, the Service de la Repression des Fraudes, responsible for enforcing the food law at all stages in the production, transportation and selling process.
NAS Activities in 1973 These activities gave rise, in 1973, to 1,505 prosecutions of which 1,243 (82 per cent) were successful. The sentences amounted to a total of over 17 years imprisonment and fines of 322,571,393 lire. The NAS may, however, administer on-the-spot fines for less serious offences rather than take the trader to court. Indeed this seems a widespread practice given that in 1973 such fines totalled 1,604,622,422 lire. (All of which went toward the cost of running the NAS). The NAS has further powers it can close down food establishments pending a court hearing. This power is achieved via registration provisions. All food shops, hawkers, food factories and restaurants must be registered wth the Regional Health Department and must be inspected prior to opening. After this, inspection is periodic but if an offence is discovered the inspector can revoke registration pending a court hearing. The establishment cannot be re-opened until it has been checked over. In 1973, 22,017 establishments were inspected and 116 w c re closed down. -
Quantity Little information is available on the structure or operation of the Italian weights and measures legislation. The Ufficio Metrico handles verification of equipment but it is the NAS who check on accuracy of fill pre-packs and the honest use of weighing and measuring apparatus. It appears, however, that the NAS acts only in cases where evidence of irregularities have come to light it does not, apparently, make random checks. -
BELGIUM
Quality Meat Inspection Until 1890 meat inspection was the responsibility of local government. After that date enforcement was handed over to a state meat inspection service under the Ministry of Health. The service is not solely responsible for meat hygiene. It is also concerned with any fraud concerning meat products. The law requires ante- and postmortem examinations in all cases except pigs, sheep and
goats slaughtered for
own consumption and not put on the market. Commercial slaughtering is permitted only in recognized establishments. Meat for export to other EEC countries must come only from EEC approved and licensed abattoirs. Only veterinary meat inspectors are allowed to undertake ante and post mortem exami-
For the purposes of enforcement the country is divided into 15 districts each with a chief inspector who must hold a diploma in chemistry. Beneath these 15 inspectors are 65 ’controleurs’ who are not specially trained but who must have a good general education. Samples are collected by the Food Inspection Service and analysed by an approved local laboratory. Generally the sample is divided into 3 with one portion for the trader, one for the inspector and one at the disposal of the tribunal in case it wishes a further analysis to be carried out. In 1973, 6,373 samples were taken and these led to 582 prosecutions. Apart from sample taking the inspectors must also carry out general checks, e.g. for hygiene, in shops, markets, factories etc. Some 110,000 such visits are made annually.
Quantity The Belgian weights and measures inspection service is part of the Inspection Generale Economique under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is responsible for verifying the accuracy of weighing and measuring equipment and ensuring its honest use. The main job of the weights and measures service is the initial and periodic verification of weighing and measuring equipment. The law gives them responsibility for measures of length, capacity, weight, gas meters, measures of liquids other than water and liquid gas taximeters. The ’preventive’ side of weights and measures law is thus handled entirely by the Weights and Measures Service. The ’repressive’ aspect is shared with a section of the Inspection Generale Economique (IGE). There is no systematic checking on the honest use of equipment. Rather, spot checks are made by this section. It is, however, the agents of the weights and measures service who often detect offences in the course of their verification work. The policy of the service appears to be that if a straight infraction is found a prosecution will be brought immediately. If, on the other hand, there is some doubt the inspector will deliver a written warning and place the trader, for a time, under the supervision of the section of the IGE referred to above. If he infringes the law again then a prosecution will be
brought.
For enforcement purposes the country is divided into five districts. The technical staff of the service comprises : 1 Director, 7 Chief Technical Engineers, 36 other Technical Engineers, 20 Trainees, 41 Assistants. NETHERLANDS Quality and Quantity. In most European countries the responsibility for the enforcement of Food Law (composition, labelling etc) and weights and measures law is divided between two services. In the Netherlands this distinction is less noticeable as just one organization, the Keuringsdienst van Waren, is responsible for the enforcement of the
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
277 TABLE VII STAFF: No.
Analysts
-
190; Inspectors
covered by Act
annually
89,259
372,702
131; Others
No. of negative
Analyses
No. visits made
firms
-
results
451,886
29,405
Official warnings
138. Prosecutions
32,018
5,663
-
TABLE VIII
Places of sale Street and Market trade Mobile shops Auctions and Fish auctions
Inspections Warnings Prosecutions 5811
-
1,059 6,275
155 58 1 40 264
8,959
378
68
156
163 68
48 111
1,016 28
Supermarkets Small shops TOTAL:
5 23 1 39
Places of preparation
Agricultural
concerns
Bakers and patisseries Ice cream production Catering establishments Home Industry and Social
1,770 136
6,621
workshops
-
Poulterers Butchers
154
1,580 56 143
Fishmongers Others TOTAL : Factories Bread and pastry Beer and spirits Chocolate and confectionery Ice cream
Vegetable
Raw materials ’
etc.
oils and fats Flour and flour products Milk and dairy products Meat products Game and Poultry Other
Margarine,
TOTAL:
Warehouses G. TOTAL:
-
3 5 -
3
-
26 -
-
1 -
-
10,5155
422
87
1155 18 24 30 25 5 65 2 3 209 58 12 105
8
4
DENMARK
conserves
Jams, Lemonade,
-
180
France and often in Germany). Second, the inspectors are more than just ’sample takers’. They are well qualified in all aspects of food control and are thus able to pick up problems that a less-skilled investigator would miss. Inspectors are, apparently, recruited largely on the basis of previous experience in the food industry and a minimum educational requirement is set, the equivalent to ’A’ levels in the UK. The principal Act which the Keuringsdienst van Waren enforces is the Warenwet (merchandise law). This is, basically, enabling legislation under which specific regulations have been made since the passage of the Act in 1919. In this, the pattern is similar to the United Kingdom Food and Drugs Act but one interesting difference is that businesses covered by the Act are required to contribute to its enforcement. Their total contributions represent one quarter of the running costs of the service. Perhaps for this reason, information on the number of businesses covered in each area is readily available. Equally, because of the efficient and systematic method of collecting statistics it is possible to give an overall picture of Food Inspection in the Netherlands. In Table VII details of the Keuringsdienst van Waren’s work for 1972 are provided. In Table VIII details for the town of Maastricht of where inspections were made in 1972 are given.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
1
-
-
-
-
5
3
-
-
-
-
2
1
671
20
9
1,555 21,801
32 852
6 170
law in both areas. Although the metrology side of weights and measures falls to a separate service it is the Keuringsdienst van Waren who check on the quantity and quality of foodstuffs in Holland. This applies equally to foods of animal origin once they have been certified as fit for human consumption by a qualified veterinary officer. The State Veterinary Service, (administered locally in 158 Meat Inspection Districts) comprising 253 full time and 95 part time veterinarians is thus responsible for ante and post mortem examinations but from that point on the task of enforcing the Food Law falls to the Keuringsdienst van Waren.
Operation The Keuringsdienst van Waren is administered locally, by the 14 municipalities (Local Government Districts). Again, this fact makes generalizations harder, but on the other hand each service presents an annual report detailing its work. These reports are the source of all the data reported in this section. The pattern established is that samples are collected by inspectors of the Keuringsdienst van Waren and sent for analysis to the local municipal laboratory. Two departures from the French and German system should, however, be noted. First, the trader does not usually get a sample himself (as he always does in
Quality The structure of Food Law enforcement in Denmark is complex. The basic he pattern is of local enforcement backed up, in the case of meat and meat products, by a national service of veterinarians. But these veterinarians, because of the enormous Danish meat and meat products industry, play an important role in enforcement. Meat control, including the slaughtering of animals and poultry rests with a government agency called the Veterinary Directorate. The head agency is situated in Copenhagen, but inspectors have offices in five different cities in Denmark. All slaughterhouses are under the supervision of a veterinary surgeon who is responsible to the Ministry of Agriculture. The chief veterinarian will in most cases have an assistant veterinarian and one or more technical assistants. In all 200 chief veterinarians, 200 assistant veterinarians and about 200 technical assistants are involved in the daily supervision of slaughterhouses etc. Moreover, 600 veterinary surgeons are occupied parttime in checking meat. The above applies to slaughterhouses etc. authorized for export but more than 90 per cent of all meat plants are authorized for export. Also private slaughterhouses not authorized for export must have approval from the Veterinary Directorate. Meat shops must have approval from the town council which will have assistance from a veterinary surgeon only if approved by the Veterinary Directorate. The control of dairy products, e.g. butter, cheese, ice cream, and eggs, rests with the Government Inspectorate of Dairy Products. This inspectorate has its head office in Copenhagen and offices in four other cities and including technical assistants, comprises about 100 men.
The control of fish and fish products is enacted by a special government inspectorate of fish. This agency has its head office in Copenhagen, but there are 30 small offices spread around the country. Its total staff is about 100.
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
278
The inspection of milk for human consumption rests with the city councils with the assistance of the city veterinarians. In about 45 towns there are municipal laboratories headed by the town veterinarian who is assisted by other veterinary surgeons and a staff of technicians. The total staff amounts to about 500 persons. Each herd from which milk for human consumption is obtained will be examined by a veterinary surgeon 2-4 times a year, and the raw milk will be examined in the laboratories for general bacterial content and pathogenic bacteria. Also the content of milk fat will be checked. In 1972, 185,000 samples were drawn and examined. Samples are taken in the dairies and in retail shops. Milk inspection in the municipality laboratories is under the supervision of a special department in the Veterinary Directorate. Checks on other foodstuffs in general are regulated by the Food Act of 6 June 1973. The local authority will be the city council with assistance from the city veterinarian and the local laboratories as mentioned above. Any plant manufacturing foodstuffs has to be authorized by the Veterinary Directorate which supervises them and is responsible to the Ministry of the Environment. The Danish Food Act of 1973 requires that food retailing, packing, repacking, transport companies be approved by the local council before commencing trade. The same applies to canteens and boarding houses with more than twelve permanent residents. Further, approval must be obtained following a change of ownership of the business, major changes in the product or range of products being handled or important changes in buildings. In any case, approval and registration is reconsidered every five years. The enforcement of hygiene regulations in these concerns falls to the local council assisted by the municipal veterinary officer who may be authorized to act on behalf of the local council. If a municipal veterinary officer is so authorized and if he does discover unhygienic practices he may close down the establishment immediately. If he thinks it necessary he can propose that the local council withdraw registration.
Weights and Measures The
metrological side of Weight and Measures law (verification of weighing and measuring equipment) is dealt with by the Justervaesenet, a self-financing service which gets its income from fees and the sale of certain measuring equipment of which it is the sole supplier. The law requires that weighing and measuring equipment used in trade be checked every four years. In practice tests are often more frequent. For example,
TOXOCARIASIS continued from page 280 17 MOORE, M. T. (1962), Human Toxocara Canis Encephalitis with Lead Encephalopathy, Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 21, 201. 18 SCHOENFIELD, A. E., GHITNIC, E. and ROSEN. N. (1964), Granulomatous Encephalitis Due to Toxocara Larvae (Visceral Larva Migrans), Harefuah, 66, 337. 19 LEWIS, E. A. (1927), A study of the Helminths of Dogs and Cats of Aberystwyth, Wales, 5, 171. 20 HUTCHINSON, W. M. (1957), The Incidence and Distribution of Hydatigera Taeniaeformis and other Intestinal Helminths in Scottish Cats, Journal of Parasitology, 43 , 318. 21 WOODRUFF, A. W., THACKER, C. K., and SHAH, A. I. (1964), Infection with Animal Helminths, British Medical Journal, 1, 1001. 22 OLDHAM. J. N. (1965), Observations on the Incidence of Toxocara and Toxascaris in Dogs and Cats from the London Area , Journal of Helminthology, 39, 251. 23 DUBEY, J. P. (1966) Toxocara cati and other Intestinal Parasites of Cats, Veterinary Record, 79, 506.
although shop scales are verified once every four years, liquid measuring systems (e.g. petrol pumps) are checked annually. The checking of fill of prepacks is handled by a different service, the Monopoltilsynet, which has other duties as well (e.g. price control). In 1972 it made 222 control visits and discovered 39 infringements of weights and measures law. These led to 31 written warnings and one successful prosecution. IRELAND ’
Quality The principal Act is the Food Standards Act of 1974. It is enforced locally by about 170 Health Inspectors who take about 10,000 samples annually. These are analysed at local laboratories appointed by the regional health boards. Attempts are being made to persuade local authorities to adopt ’planned programmes of sampling on a regional (not a county) basis aimed at securing a well balanced selection of commodities’. The work of analysis is concentrated in two centres, Dublin and Galway. Galway serves 13 counties and Dublin the rest. In 1971 a total of 8,747 samples were tested and 216 (or 2.5 (6,139 in Dublin and 2,608 in per cent) were found defective. The range of defective 10 per cent in Galway samples was, however, large to zero in Roscommon, for example. one part to the Samples are divided into three trader, one to the analyst and one kept by the Inspector who may produce the sample in court for testing by the state chemist who acts as a ’referee.’
Galway)
-
-
Weights and Measures Generally speaking it is the police who are responsible for weights and measures legislation in Ireland. Outside the Dublin area 51 specially trained policemen undertake the verification and periodic checking of weighing
and measuring equipment. In Dublin the task falls to 12 inspectors employed by the local authority. Weights and measures legislation in Ireland, however, deals only with metrology requirements as to weight marking, and prescribed quantities are covered by the 1974 Merchandise Marks Act. It appears, nevertheless, that these same officers will enforce this legislation too. The ratio of three million population to 63 inspectors can give some idea of the scale of the task involved. It is perhaps more informative to relate the number of inspectors to the number of premises to be inspected. The aim of the service is to allocate one inspector per 700 premises. In Dublin, the only area we have figures for, the number is about 1 per 1000. These papers were presented at a conference of the Society held in London, 19 May 1977 24
NIAK, A. (1972) The Prevalence of Toxacara cati and other Para-
sites in Liverpool Cats, Veterinary Record, 91, 534. WESTON. R. (1973) Endoparasites in Cats Supplied for Laboratory Journal of Science Technology, 17, No. 5, 2. 26 JORDAN. W. J. (1973), Pets and Population, Journal of Small Animal Practice, 14 , 669. 27 SHERIDAN. J. P. (1975) Dogs, Cats and other Pets, The Practitioner, 215, 172. 28 MANSI. W. (1977) Personal Communication. 29 WOODRUFF. A. W. (1976) Toxocariasis as a Public Health Problem, Environmental Health, 2, 29. 30 CHURCHER. S. W. (1976) A Review of Some of the Risks to Human Health from Dogs, Environmental Health, 2, 220. 31 FABEL. J. M. A. (1976) Control of Communicable Diseases, Runnymede District Council Minute 406, 261. 32 FABEL. J. M. A. (1976) Personal Communication. 33 BISSERU. B. (1967) Diseases of Man Acquired from his Pets, Heineman. 25
Use,
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at CARLETON UNIV on March 16, 2015
