Food Legislation
Code: 103236 ECTS Credits: 3| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501925 Food Science and Technology | OB | 4 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Montserrat Mor-Mur Francesch
- Email:
- montserrat.mor-mur@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.
Teachers
- Joan Amenos Alamo
- Eduard Grau Noguer
Prerequisites
Although there are no official prerequisites, it is convenient that the student revises the material covered in the following second and third year courses:
- “Anàlisi i control de la qualitat dels aliments” (food-quality analysis and control)
- “Gestió de la Seguretat Alimentària i Salut Pública” (food safety and public health management)
Objectives and Contextualisation
The course of Food Legislation is a transversal and fundamental subject that aims to ensure that the student is able to know and understand the legal framework, apply and develop the normative principles of food law and the specific regulations that regulate the agri-food sector from primary production to the consumer.
General objective:
To Identify, analyse and understand the legislative system applicable to the production and marketing of food at the Spanish, European Union and international levels.
Specific objectives:
- to provide to the students with the adequate knowledge about the main bodies and their functions, in the legislative and technical field, which are framed at the Spanish, European Union and international levels.
- provide to the students with the adequate knowledge about the legislative process in the European Union in the field of food safety and nutrition.
- to train the students on the purpose of harmonising food legislation:
- consumer protection;
- establish equal food production and marketing practices at the European Union and international levels;
- guarantee good professional practices, including professional ethics, and;
- publish and disseminate the law of the matter of this course.
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Adopt an ethical stance and attach importance to quality in work.
- Communicate effectively with both professional and non-professional audiences, orally and in writing, in the first language and/or in English.
- Interpret and apply agrofood regulations.
- Provide auditing and legal, scientific and technical advisory services to the agri-food industry.
- Search for, manage and interpret information from different sources.
- Show sensitivity to environmental, sanitary and social issues.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
Learning Outcomes
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Adopt an approach that is holistic and respectful of legal provisions when applying the technical knowledge acquired.
- Adopt an ethical stance and attach importance to quality in work.
- Carry out technical surveys based on scientific, legal and ethical data.
- Communicate effectively with both professional and non-professional audiences, orally and in writing, in the first language and/or in English.
- Describe the scientific sources of the law governing the agrofood business and comply with its principles.
- Evaluate legislation in several different countries and write the reports on these.
- Explain and provide a basis for the historical mechanisms of codes of conduct, legislation and civil responsibility in accordance with the cultures and degree of development of each country.
- Explain the profession's ethical principles.
- Issue expert reports taking into account existing legislation.
- Recognise and explain the factors that influence the degree of compliance with legislation.
- Recognise the risks of failure to comply with the law.
- Search for, manage and interpret information from different sources.
- Show sensitivity to environmental, sanitary and social issues.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Use legal terminology correctly.
Content
This course is divided into the following two blocks: (1) Law introduction and (2) Food legislation. The content of each block is detailed below:
Topic 1.- Presentation of the course
(1) Law introduction
Topic 2.- What it means to be a State. What is 'the Law'. What is the Public Administration and which are its different types
Topic 3.- The legal system. The constitution, laws and regulatory norms
Topic 4.- Administrative decisions. Resources and administrative control
Topic 5.- The public function
Topic 6.- Administration, the citizen and the company from a legal point of view. The freedom of a company. The public services
(2) Food legislation
Topic 7.- Food law at international level
7.1 Role, structure and functioning of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
7.2 Role, structure and functioning of the World Health Organization (WHO)
7.3 Role, structure and functioning of the Codex Alimentarius
7.4 Role, structure and functioning of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
Topic 8.- Introduction to the law at European Union level
8.1. Primary and secondary legislation
8.2 Legislative bodies of the European Union
8.3 The food legislative process in the European Union
Topic 9.- Food law at the European Union level
9.1 The White Paper on Food Safety
9.2 Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 on the principles of food law
9.3 Risk analysis: evaluation, management and communication
9.4 Role, structure and functioning of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and its legislative impact
9.5 Role, structure and functioning of the European Commission and the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE)
Topic 10.- Distribution of competences among the main bodies involved in food safety in the Spanish State
10.1 Role, structure and functioning of the main food-related agencies at the state level
10.2 Role, structure and operation of the main food-related organisms in Catalonia
Topic 11.- Ethics and ethics in professional practice and ethical principles
Topic 12.- Areas of professional responsibility
Methodology
The teaching methodology of the subject is mixed, as detailed below:
In-person (26 hours):
- Master class sessions (16 hours). These sessions will consist of expository classes, where the fundamental concepts of the content of the course will be explained. Of the total hours of the master classes, 4 hours will be allocated to the first block and 12 hours to the second.
- Seminar sessions (8 hours). These sessions will consist of working, analysis, presentation and discussion sessions of tasks carried out during these sessions.
- Conferences (2 hours). Throughout the course there will be two conferences (in-person or online) by invited people, experts in the subject of this course.
Self-directed study:
- Self-learning activities: students must carry out different tasks independently that will contribute to the preparation of the course from material provided by the teaching personnel of this course. These are tasks that imply the additional investigation of information by the students on one or various issues, and that must be submitted and defended orally.
Note 1: the documentation of the subject, class presentations, working document, etc., will be available to the students on the Virtual Campus (http://cv.uab.cat) and in the specific case of the theory presentations of the master class sessions, they will be accessible after each session in order for the students to exercise the ability to take notes on the most important aspects.
Note 2: in addition, one hour of resolution of doubts will be scheduled prior to the examination. Attendance at this activity is voluntary.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Expert speaker conference | 2 | 0.08 | 9, 12, 16 |
| Lectures | 16 | 0.64 | 2, 3, 13, 6, 4, 9, 10, 8, 12, 11, 16, 7 |
| Seminars | 8 | 0.32 | 2, 3, 5, 14, 6, 10, 8, 12, 11, 16 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Seminars- tutorials | 8 | 0.32 | 5, 11, 16 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Preparation of practical cases and and exercises for the continuing evaluation | 15 | 0.6 | 2, 3, 13, 6, 4, 9, 10, 8, 12, 11, 16, 7 |
| Self Learning | 24 | 0.96 | 2, 13, 6, 9, 10, 8, 12, 11, 16, 7 |
Assessment
Acknowledging that this course does not contemplate any form of unique assessment system, the student assessment will be carried out as detailed below:
1.- Theoretical tests (theoretical examination) .......................................................................................65%
1.1.- Introduction to law .................................................................................................................25%
1.2.- Food Legislation ......................................................................................................................40%
2.- Self-learning tasks ......................................................................................................................................25%
2.1.- Written tasks ............................................................................................................................15%
2.2.- Oral presentation ...................................................................................................................5%
2.3.- Participation in discussions ...............................................................................................5%
3.- Attendance to theoretical classes, seminars and conferences................................................10 %
Students will pass the course when they pass the theoretical exam with at least 5.0/10.0 and their overall mark for the course represents at least 50% of the total assessment. In the case of not passing the theoretical test, the students will have the possibility of making a recovery of this exam, respecting the weight of each one of the two blocks of theoretical content of this course.
Note 1: A student will be considered not evaluable when her/his participation in the assessment activities is less than or equal to 15% of the final mark.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BPL tasks and course attendance | 35% | 0 | 0 | 1, 15, 2, 3, 13, 5, 14, 6, 4, 9, 10, 8, 12, 11, 16, 7 |
| Examination: Lntroduction to Law and Food legislation | 25% Introduction to Law; 40% Food legislation | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 6, 4, 9, 10, 8, 12, 11, 16, 7 |
Bibliography
References about Fundamentals of Law:
SÁNCHEZ MORÓN, M.: Derecho Administrativo. Parte general. Tecnos, 2016.
GAMERO CASADO, E. i FERNÁNDEZ RAMOS, S.: Manual básico de Derecho Administrativo, Tecnos, 2016.
ESTEVE PARDO, J.: Elementos de Derecho Administrativo, Marcial Pons, 2015.
RECUERDA GIRELA, M.A., Tratado de Derecho alimentario, Aranzadi, 2014.
References about Food legislation:
Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. 2022. Diarios oficiales. https://www.boe.es/
Commission of the European Communities. 2000. White paper on food safety
Commission of the European Communities. 1997. The general principles of food law in the European Union- Commission Green Paper
Coutrelis, N. & Caussanel, S. 2017. The role and mission of the Codex Alimentarius and its relation to its parent institutions. Source: European Food and Feed Law Review, 12(3): 212–216. https://doi.org/10.2307/90010364
European Union. 2022. EUR-Lex Access to European Union Law. Cited 5 July 2022. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/homepage.html?locale=en
FAO/WHO. 2022. Codex Alimentarius Standards. https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/list-standards/en/
Goodburn, K. 2001. EU food law: a practical guide. 1st edition. Cambridge, Woodhead Publishing Limited.
Holland, D. & Pope, H. 2003. EU food law and policy. 1st. edition. The Hague, Kluwer Law International.
Kirchsteiger-Meier. E & Baumgartner, T. 2014. Global food legislation: an overview. 1st edition. Weinheim, Wiley-VCH.
Kotwal, V. 2016. Codex Alimentarius Commission: role in international food standards setting. In: Encyclopedia of Food and Health. pp. 197–205. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-384947-2.00397-4
MacMaolain, C. 2007. EU food law- protecting consumers and health in a common market. 1st edition. Cornwall, Hart Publishing.
van der Meulen, B. 2019. Impact of the Codex Alimentarius: The Influence of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme on EU Food Law. Feed Law Review, 14(1): 29–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/26670663
Szajkowska, A. 2012. Regulating food law risk analysis and the precautionary principle as general principles of EU food law. 1st. edition. Wageningen Academic Publishers.
World Trade Organization. 1996. Agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosainatry measures
Software
There are no programs for this subject