An audit has discovered that the Bulgarian meat control system is abandoned by a lack of problems that are recorded during controls and limited enforcement.
The audit by DG Sante took place in May and June 2024 to evaluate the operating system for the slaughter hygiene and meat inspection. Six recommendations were recently made.
The official operating system for the production of red meat and poultry contains almost all elements in EU legislation. DG Sante, however, said that the effectiveness has been seriously affected for the low level of detection and registration of non-compliance, limited enforcement measures that are taken when problems are found, a lack of documented procedures or instructions for staff performing the checks and some official tasks were not executed in accordance with the EU rules.
During slaughterhouse visits, the audit team discovered that official checks were not effective and that there is no consistency in the way they are performed.
For official checks at slaughterhouses there are no instructions on ante-mortem inspections (AMI), about animal welfare controls and about the verification of self-control systems of food companies. Instructions on Post-Mortem inspection (PMI) have not been updated to include the latest changes in EU legislation. The audit team noted that checklists for official veterinarians have not been updated since 2014 and they are not often used during inspections.
Auditors discovered that civil servants did not have sufficient knowledge of specific legal requirements to perform their duties properly, in particular on PMI, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems and the protection of animals at the time of slaughter.
Suspend operations
Serious problems with sanitary and maintenance conditions were observed in one slaughterhouse. Official veterinarians and local inspectors said that some problems had been discovered in the past, but were not laid down in reports due to verbal requests to resolve the problems. However, the company did not solve the non-compliance and OVs did not take enforcement measures, so the situation remained unchanged.
Auditors noted damage to floors, walls and ceiling in the evacuation and areas for further processing of carcases, damaged equipment in different parts of the site, dirty cooling machines with surfaces that are unable to be sufficiently cleaned or disinfected, gaps between floors and external floors doors, which do not allow suitable pest control and poor hygiene standards in different parts from the plant.
In this establishment, the company refused to give access to the audit team and the authorities up to three locking chasing rooms, two of them connected to the slaughter section. After breaking the lock on one of these rooms, about 10 tons of frozen meat products were stored in a way that made them unsuitable for human consumption. Meat was destroyed and activities in the factory were temporarily hung up.
In the visited slaughterhouses, official samples did not reveal non-compliant microbial results. No positives for Salmonella and Campylobacter have been detected in their own checks in the poultry slaughterhouse for the past three years.
In response to the findings of the audit report, the Bulgarian Food Safety Office has set up a working group to develop a design manual for the performance of official checks in slaughterhouses.
Online training with all official veterinarians and service personnel in slaughterhouses were planned, as well as practical training on Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem inspection.
The agency also develops a procedure for audits of the company’s self -control plans and a standard operational procedure (SOP) for verifying the effectiveness of food -related official checks.
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