FBO — Food Business Operator

Who the FBO is: the definition in Regulation 178/2002

FBO stands for "food business operator". The definition is not found in Regulation (EC) 852/2004, which nonetheless uses it in every article, but in the framework food law: a food business operator is "the natural or legal persons responsible for ensuring that the requirements of food law are met within the food business under their control" Article 3(3) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. The definition is relational: it points to the concept of a food business, that is "any undertaking, whether for profit or not and whether public or private, carrying out any of the activities related to any stage of production, processing and distribution of food" Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.

Two elements deserve attention. First, the FBO may be a natural person (the sole trader) or a legal person (the company); where a company is involved, the FBO is the company, not the individual employee, although individual liabilities may arise under other bodies of law. Second, the absence of profit does not remove the status — volunteer canteens, food festivals and charity stalls fall within the food business concept where the activity has a minimum of continuity and organisation.

Primary responsibility (Article 17)

The pivot of the system is Article 17 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002: food business operators, at all stages of production, processing and distribution within the businesses under their control, are to ensure that foods satisfy the requirements of food law which are relevant to their activities and are to verify that such requirements are met Article 17(1) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. This is the principle of the operator's primary responsibility, echoed at the opening of Regulation (EC) 852/2004 among its guiding principles Article 1(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. Official control does not replace the FBO: it verifies. Member States must then lay down penalties that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive Article 17(2) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.

This design has a constant practical consequence: no third party — consultant, certification body, trainer — can take on the FBO's responsibility. A consultant may draft the food safety management manual, but the operator answers for it; having relied on a professional does not exonerate the business.

The FBO's obligations under Regulation 852/2004

Regulation (EC) 852/2004 turns the general responsibility into specific obligations, all resting on the FBO:

• General hygiene obligation: FBOs are to ensure that all stages under their control satisfy the relevant hygiene requirements Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.
• Registration (or approval): every establishment must be notified to the competent authority for registration Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.
• HACCP self-checking: put in place, implement and maintain permanent procedures based on HACCP principles Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.
• Structural and operational requirements: compliance with the prerequisites of Annex II Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.
• Traceability: systems allowing identification of immediate suppliers and customers Article 18(2) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.
• Training: ensuring staff are trained and supervised Annex II, Chapter XII, point 1 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.

This set of obligations applies to every kind of FBO, from large industry to the food truck: what changes is the "how" (proportionality), not the "whether".

The FBO and the food chain

The FBO's responsibility is stage-based: each operator answers for the stages under their own control Article 17(1) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. This, combined with the "one step back, one step forward" traceability duty Article 18(2) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, builds a chain of responsibility in which every link is identifiable. Where a food placed on the market is unsafe, the FBO who imported, produced, processed or distributed it must act to withdraw it and, if the product has reached the consumer, to recall it Article 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.