11.9.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 300/17

(Case C-347/17)

(2017/C 300/20)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Defendant: Staatssecretaris van Economische Zaken

Questions referred

1.Must the provisions of Annex III, Section II, Chapter IV, point 5 and point 8, to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 (1) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (OJ 2004 L 139) be interpreted as meaning that a poultry carcass, after evisceration and cleaning, may no longer contain any visible contamination whatsoever?

2.Do the provisions of Annex III, Section II, Chapter IV, point 5 and point 8, to 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 (OJ 2004 L 139) apply to contamination by faeces, bile and crop contents?

3.If the first question is answered in the affirmative, must the provisions of Annex III, Section II, Chapter IV, point 8, to 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 (OJ 2004 L 139) then be interpreted as meaning that the cleaning must take place immediately after evisceration, or may the removal of any visible forms of contamination, on the basis of that provision, also take place during chilling, cutting or packaging?

4.Does Annex I, Section 1, Chapter II, Part D, point 1, to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 (2) 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 (OJ 2004 L 139) allow the competent authority, when carrying out controls, to remove carcasses from the slaughter line, and to check both the outside and the inside and under the fat tissue for visible contamination?

5.If the first question is answered in the negative, and visible contamination may therefore remain on a poultry carcass, how must the provisions of points 5 and 8 in Annex III, Section II, Chapter IV, to 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 (OJ 2004 L 139) then be interpreted? How then will the aim of that regulation, namely, guaranteeing a high level of protection of public health, be achieved?

(1) OJ 2004 L 139, p. 55.

(2) OJ 2004 L 139, p. 206.