(1)

Article 53 of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 empowers the EFTA Surveillance Authority (the Authority) to recommend coordinated plans where considered necessary, organised on an ad hoc basis, in particular with a view to establishing the prevalence of hazards in feed, food or animals.

(2)

Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 March 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs (1) sets out EEA rules on food labelling applicable to all foods.

(3)

According to Directive 2000/13/EC, the labelling and methods used should not mislead the consumer, particularly as to the characteristics of the food, including its true nature and its identity. Furthermore, in the absence of specific EEA or national rules, the name under which a food is sold should be the name customary in the EEA State in which it is sold, or a description of the food which is clear enough to let the purchaser know its true nature.

(4)

Moreover, all ingredients must be mentioned on the label of pre-packaged foodstuffs intended for the final consumer or mass caterers. In particular, foods containing meat as an ingredient, when intended for the final consumer or mass caterers, must also indicate the animal species from which the meat originates directly on the package or on a label attached thereto. If an ingredient is mentioned in the name of the food, its quantity expressed as a percentage must also be provided in the list of ingredients in order to avoid the consumer being misled as regards the identity and the composition of the food.

(5)

Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (2) provides for additional labelling requirements applicable to specific foods. In particular, it provides that packages intended for supply to the final consumer containing minced meat, amongst others, from solipeds are to bear a notice indicating that such products should be cooked before consumption, if, and to the extent that, national rules in the Member State in the territory of which the product is placed on the market so require.

(6)

Section III of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 requires the food business operators operating slaughterhouses to request, receive, check and act upon food chain information in respect of all animals, other than wild game, sent or intended to be sent to the slaughterhouse. The relevant food chain information is to cover, in particular, veterinary medicinal products administered to the animals within a relevant period and with a withdrawal period greater than zero, together with their dates of administration and withdrawal periods. Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption (3) requires inter alia the official veterinarian to perform auditing and inspection tasks. In particular, the official veterinarian is to check and analyse relevant information from the records of the holding of provenance of animals intended for slaughter, including food chain information and to take account of the documented results of this check and analysis when carrying out ante- and post-mortem inspection.

(7)

Following official controls being carried out since December 2012 in a number of European Union Member States, it appeared that certain pre-packaged products contained horse meat, which was not declared in the list of ingredients appearing directly on the package or on a label attached thereto. Instead, the name of certain such foods and/or the accompanying list of ingredients misleadingly referred solely to the presence of beef.

(8)

In accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety (4), food business operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution within their businesses under their control must ensure that foods satisfy the requirements of food law which are relevant to their activities and must verify that such requirements are met.

(9)

Horses are animal species that can be ‧food producing‧ or ‧non-food producing‧. Phenylbutazone is a veterinary drug whose use is allowed only in non-food producing animals pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) No 37/2010 of 22 December 2009 on pharmacologically active substances and their classification regarding maximum residue limits in foodstuffs of animal origins (5). Accordingly, non-food producing horses, which have been treated with phenylbutazone at some point in their life, cannot enter the food chain. Considering the fraudulent practices relating to the unlabelled presence of horse meat in certain food products, it is appropriate, for preventive purposes, to ascertain whether non-food producing horses treated with phenylbutazone have entered the food chain.

(10)

It is therefore necessary for the Authority to recommend to Norway and Iceland to carry out a coordinated control plan with a view to establish the prevalence of fraudulent practices in the marketing of certain foods for a period of one month. This period may be extended by an additional period of two months.

(11)

The recommended control plan should consist of two actions.

(12)

The first action should consist of appropriate controls carried out at retail level, on foods destined for the final consumer or mass caterers, which are marketed and/or labelled as containing beef. These controls could also be extended to other establishments (e.g. cold stores). The objective of these controls would be to establish whether such products contain horse meat, which is not properly labelled on the packaging or, in the case of non pre-packaged foodstuffs, information relating to its presence is not made available to the consumer or mass caterers. Such controls should be carried out on a representative sample.

(13)

Reliable methods exist which allow with a sufficient degree of accuracy the detection of the presence of proteins of undeclared species in a sample. The European Union Reference Laboratory for animal proteins in feedstuffs can provide useful advice on those methods and their use. The competent authorities of Norway and Iceland should be invited to rely on the advice of that laboratory as to the methods that can be used.

(14)

The second action should consist of appropriate controls being carried out in establishments handling horse meat destined for human consumption, including foods originating from third countries, for the detection of phenylbutazone residues. These controls should also be carried out on a representative sample, taking into account production and import figures. It is appropriate in this case to refer to methods provided for by Commission Decision 2002/657/EC implementing Council Directive 96/23/EC concerning the performance of analytical methods and the interpretation of results (6).

(15)

Norway and Iceland should communicate the results of these controls to the Authority on a regular basis, in order to assess the findings and decide on an appropriate course of action. These results will be transmitted to the European Commission.

The measures provided for in this Recommendation are in accordance with the opinion of the EFTA Veterinary and Phytosanitary Committee assisting the Authority,