The purpose of this guidance is to clarify relevant provisions in EU legislation and help to lift barriers to food redistribution within the current EU regulatory framework. More specifically, these guidelines will seek to facilitate compliance of providers and recipients of surplus food with relevant requirements laid down in the EU regulatory framework (e.g. food safety, food hygiene, traceability, liability, VAT, etc.); and to promote common interpretation by regulatory authorities in the EU Member States of EU rules applying to the redistribution of surplus food. The scope of the EU guidelines on food donation encompasses the recovery and redistribution of food by food business operators which are provided, by the holder, free of charge. These guidelines refers to the prevention of food loss and waste and accept and use FAO's definition on recovery of safe and nutritious food for human consumption which is to receive, with or without payment, food (processed, semi-processed or raw) which would otherwise be discarded or wasted from the agricultural, livestock and fisheries supply chains of the food system.
2017-01-01