S.L. 437.90 Art. 5Guides to good hygiene practice.

(1) Member States shall encourage the development of guides to good hygiene practice which may be used voluntarily by food businesses as a guide to compliance with the provisions of rule 3.

(2) Where the guides to good hygiene practice referred to in sub-rule (1) are developed, they shall be developed as follows:

(i) by food business sectors and representatives of other interested parties, such as appropriate authorities and consumer groups,

(ii) in consultation with interests substantially affected, including the competent authorities,

(iii) where appropriate, having regard to the Recommended International Code of Practice, General Principles of Food Hygiene of the Codex Alimentarius.

(3) The guides referred to in sub-rules (1) and (2) may be developed under the aegis of a national standards institute referred to in list 2 of the Schedule to Council Directive 83/189/EEC of the 28th March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and rules.

(4) Member States shall assess the guides to good hygiene practice referred to in sub-rules (1) and (2) with a view to determining the extent to which they may be presumed to comply with rule 3.

(5) Member States shall forward to the Commission those guides to good hygiene practice which they presume to comply with Article 3 of the Directive. The Commission shall make these guides available to the Member States.

(6) Where one or more Member States, or the Commission, consider that, for the purposes of harmonization, there may be a need for guides to good hygiene practice to be developed on a European basis (hereafter referred to as ‘European guides to good hygiene practice’), the Commission shall consult Member States in the framework of the Standing Committee on Foodstuffs in accordance with Article 14 of the Directive. The object of this consultation shall be to consider the case for such voluntary guides in the sectors or activities concerned, and, where such guides are considered necessary:

(i) to indicate the intended scope, subject matter and timetable for development of such voluntary guides, taking into account the time needed for consultation with interests substantially affected by them, and

(ii) to refer such voluntary guides for development and, or assessment under the aegis of a European standards institute.

(7) In developing the European guides to good hygiene practice referred to in sub-rule (6), all necessary measures shall be taken in order to:

(i) ensure that such guides are developed by representatives of food business sectors and representatives of other interests substantially affected, such as, for example, the competent authorities and consumer groups,

(ii) ensure that the contents of such guides comply with the provisions of rule 3 of these rules and, where appropriate, have regard to the Recommended International Code of Practice, General Principles of Food Hygiene of the Codex Alimentarius,

(iii) ensure that the contents of such guides are practicable for the food industry sectors to which they refer throughout the Community,

(iv) ensure that the relevant guides to good hygiene practice drawn up in accordance with sub-rules (1) and

(3) are taken into account,

(v) ensure that all interests substantially affected by such guides, including Member States, are consulted and their comments taken into account.

(8) The titles and references of European guides to good hygiene practice developed in accordance with the procedure in paragraphs 6 and 7 Article 5 of the Directive are published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Communities. Member States shall ensure that such published guides are drawn to the attention of the relevant food business sectors and the appropriate authorities in their territories.