Trader Notice MH/04/2017

Registration of Tenant FBOs within Commercial Coldstores

Background

Food Business Operators (FBOs) of Coldstores who apply to DAFM for approval are approved under Regulation 4 of the European Communities Food and Feed Hygiene Regulations 2009, SI 432 of 2009 and given an approval number. Approval is granted subject to compliance with the European Communities Food Hygiene Legislation. These FBOs of approved Coldstores have to develop and implement a Food Safety Management System (FSMS). In general, staff employees of the Coldstore carry out all of the work in a Coldstore and maintain the FSMS.

However, there are occasions when a room or an area of a Coldstore is rented or leased to another FBO who takes responsibility for all of the work associated with his/her product i.e. unloading, putting away, packing and despatch. Management/staff of the approved Coldstorehave no involvement with this product. As a result, when the competent authority carry out inspections or audits in the approved Coldstore, management and staff of the approved Coldstore may consider that they don’t have any responsibility for the product in the rented or leased part of the Coldstore.

Scope of this Trader Notice

This Trader Notice deals with the responsibilities of both the landlord FBO that was granted theapproval for the Coldstore and the tenant FBOs who rent/lease rooms or areas in approved Coldstores.

Responsibilities of FBOs of Approved Coldstores (Landlord FBOs)

  1. The landlord FBO, to whom DAFM granted the approval for the Coldstore, has overall responsibility for all the activities that take place within the approved Coldstore.
  2. Enforcement Action by the Competent Authority where necessary, in relation to any activity by a tenant will also encompass the landlord FBO who has overall responsibility for the Coldstore.
  3. All activities that take place within an approved Coldstore must be permitted under the DAFM issued certificate of approval.
  4. Activities that are not included in the certificate of approval of the approved Coldstore cannot take place in the Coldstore e.g. rewrapping cannot take place if it is not included in the certificate of approval.
  5. The landlord FBO can only rent/lease a room or area to another FBO if the tenant FBO is registered or approved with Milk and Meat Hygiene Sections of DAFM as a FBO and there is documentation outlining the association with the approved Coldstore.
  6. The landlord FBO must maintain a databaseof current contact details of tenant FBOs who are currently using the approved Coldstore, including address, mobile phone numbers and e-mail addresses. This database must be accessible to the competent authority on request at any time. In addition, the landlord FBO must submit a copy of the database on a quarterly basis to Milk and Meat Hygiene Sections.
  7. The landlord FBO must ensure that any tenant FBO renting/leasing a room or area in the approved Coldstore will comply with the approved Coldstore’s FSMS or have an equivalent FSMS in place.
  8. The landlord FBO must ensure that any tenant FBO renting/leasing a room or area in the approved Coldstore is available for any inspection/audit by the Competent Authority or can be available in a reasonable period of time in the event of an unannounced audit or inspection.

Responsibilities of Tenant FBOs

A.All Tenant FBOs in DAFM approved Coldstore must be registered or approved as FBOswith Milk and Meat Hygiene Sections, DAFM and be documented as associated with each approved Coldstore from which they rent/lease rooms or areas. The requirement for a tenant to be Registered or Approved is dependent on the activities being carried out by the tenant FBO.

B.Tenant FBOs must supply up to date contact detailsto thelandlord FBO including address, mobile phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

C.Tenant FBOs can only carry out activities for which the landlord FBO has approval.

D.Tenant FBOs must comply with the landlord FBO’s FSMS or have an equivalent system in place.In the case of the latter a copy of the equivalent FSMS must be made available to the landlord FBO.

E.Tenant FBOs, when necessary, must make themselves and their records available when notified of an upcoming competent authority audit or inspection.

F.Where required, Tenant FBOs must make themselves and their records available in a reasonable period of time in the event of an unannounced audit or inspection being carried out by the competent authority.

G.Any Traceability documentation maintained by the tenant FBO must clearly refer to the approved Coldstore as the place of loading or delivery.

H.Tenant FBOs have responsibility for any activities taking place within the area of the Coldstore being leased or rented and must fully comply with all appropriate EU Regulations.

I.Enforcement Action by the Competent Authority where necessary, in relation to any activity by atenant will also encompass the landlord FBO who has overall responsibility for the Coldstore.

Reporting procedure to DAFM

Two documents must be completed in respect to each Tenancy.

For each Tenant FBO anindividual Notification Form must be completed.

This is completed by the tenant FBO, signed and returned to DAFM. DAFM will then decide if the tenant FBOrequires Registration as a tenant of the landlord FBO or if tenant FBO requires Approval –based on their activities

Where the tenant FBO only requires Registration, DAFM will issue a Registered Tenant Number (RTN) and this will be communicated to the landlord FBO and the tenant FBO by post. The RTN will be made up of the landlord FBO’s approval number and a sequential number xxxx/yyyy and will be specific to the Landlord and the currentRental/Lease agreement with each tenant FBO.

If the tenant FBO requires Approval,DAFM will immediately contact both parties and inform them of the steps required. It must be noted that tenant FBOs requiring Approval cannot commence operations until Approval has been granted.

  1. The landlord FBO must also complete a FBO Tenant Database.

As outlined at Point 6 in the landlord FBOs responsibilities, landlord FBOs must maintain a databaseof current contact details of tenant FBOs who are currently using the approved Coldstore, including address, mobile phone numbers and e-mail addresses.The landlord FBO must complete a quarterly return of the FBO Tenant Databaseto DAFM to capture any changes of occupation at the facility. Landlords will be required to inform DAFM immediately of any new tenant FBOs or if new activities undertaken by tenant FBOs.

Both of these documents are embedded below and the initial returns must be made to

Cold Store Tenant Register, Milk and Meat Hygiene Division, Pavilion B, Grattan Business Centre, Portlaoise, Co. Laois,R32 KW50.No later than31stMarch 2017

Quarterly returns can be sent by post to the same address or by email to

John O’Neill,

Milk and Meat Hygiene Sections.

1st March 2017