Notice 2022/C 355/01: the EU guidelines on FSMS, HACCP and food safety culture

Background

Notice 2022/C 355/01 updates and expands the Commission's earlier guidance on the implementation of food safety management systems. It is designed to support food business operators and competent authorities in applying the hygiene rules of the Hygiene Package. Its substantive basis is the duty, under Reg. (EC) 852/2004, to put in place, implement and maintain permanent procedures based on HACCP principles Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, read together with the general and specific hygiene requirements of Annexes I and II.

Like any Commission notice, the document has no autonomous legal force: binding interpretation of Union law rests with the Court of Justice. Its purpose is to make the application of existing obligations coherent and proportionate.

What it sets out

The document is organised by topic. In summary:

• Prerequisite programmes (PRPs). It describes the basic conditions and activities — good hygiene and manufacturing practices — that must be ensured before and in support of the HACCP system, referring back to the general hygiene requirements Annex II, Chapter I, point 1 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.
• HACCP-based procedures. It walks through the seven principles and preliminary steps, clarifying how to identify hazards, determine critical control points and document the system, consistent with the duty in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.
• Flexibility for small businesses. It restates the possibility of applying HACCP principles with the necessary flexibility, taking account of the nature and size of the business Article 5(5) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, using guides to good hygiene practice.
• Food safety culture. It gives guidance on management commitment and staff involvement, putting into practice the chapter introduced in 2021 Annex II, Chapter XI bis of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.

What changes for operators

In legal terms, nothing: the Notice creates no new obligations and imposes no additional requirements. The obligations remain those of the Regulation — putting HACCP procedures in place Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, ensuring the hygiene requirements of the Annexes, and establishing a food safety culture Annex II, Chapter XI bis of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.

In practical terms, the document is a useful reference for building or reviewing the HACCP plan: it clarifies the distinction between prerequisites and HACCP principles, helps calibrate the level of detail to the risk, and gives small businesses criteria for a proportionate approach. The site's complete guide to HACCP reflects this approach. On the relationship with controls, it remains useful to know what to expect from an official control.

Coordination with Reg. (EC) 852/2004

The Notice should be read as an applied commentary on the Regulation, not as an alternative source. The HACCP duty and its legal basis remain in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004; the scope and definitions in Article 1(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004; food safety culture in Annex II, Chapter XI bis of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. Where the document and the Regulation's text appear to diverge, the text of the Regulation in its consolidated version always prevails.