In particular the Commission has published proposals to exempt businesses with less than 10 employees and €2m in sales from the need to follow all the rules under the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) requirements.
This proposal arises from the European Commission's bid to streamline regulations and cut administrative burdens on business by 25 per cent by 2012, thus reducing the costs for them.
The proposed exemption would at first target businesses selling foods directly to the consumer - such as butchers and bakers. However the Commission has suggested that small processors and other businesses could be exempted from the need for full HACCP in the future.
The enlarged exemption would be targeted particularly at businesses that process food in accordance with standard practices and that have had no safety incidents, according to the UK's Food Safety Authority (FSA).
The future expansion is is likely to be part of the review to be undertaken not later than 20 May 2009, he said in an e-mail to FoodProductionDaily.com.
In its explanatory memorandum and in drafts, the Commission indicates
that the intention is to exempt the businesses from certain aspects of the requirement, namely the record keeping.
A European Council working group debated the proposal on 13 April. Regulatory agencies from across the EU have been collecting comments from stakeholder organisations.
EU hygiene rules require all food business operators to put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on HACCP principles.
Those exempted under the proposed rules would still have to comply with all other relevant requirements of the regulations.
HACCP is an international standard of food safety proceedures that apply a structured approach to managing food safety through the identification of hazards and actions to be taken to control them.
The German presidency of the EU has indicated a timetable for considering the proposal under the bloc's fast-track system. The two elements of the proposal were considered by member countries' veterinary experts on 13 April.
The changes may then be referred to the Competitiveness Council on 21 May for political agreement.
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on food hygiene lays down that all food business operators shall put in place. It requires them to use HACCP to identify hazards, critical control points to prevent or eliminate hazards, establish critical limits, implement monitoring procedures, establish corrective action and procedures to verify that measures are working effectively, and keep records.
