The Court of the European Union has annulled the maximum 96-hour limit imposed for cooling salmon fillets before smoking. A rule that until now was designed to guarantee food quality and safety, but which according to European judges lacked scientific basis.
Case T-354/24 involves the Polish multinational Mowi, one of the largest salmon processors in Europe, which had contested Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/372, which set a maximum limit of 96 hours for the rigid cooling (stiffening) phase of salmon fillets before slicing and smoking.
The General Court of the EU annulled the rule for two main reasons. First, Brussels did not provide sufficient scientific evidence to demonstrate that the limit was necessary to ensure the safety or quality of the product. Secondly, the Commission did not consult the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as required by Article 13 of Regulation 853/2004 for measures which may have significant effects on public health. The lack of this mandatory scientific opinion constituted a procedural flaw.
The contested rule
The contested regulation stated that salmon had to be chilled to temperatures between –7°C and –14°C for a maximum of 96 hours before smoking. The Commission argued that this limit was necessary to:
According to the judges, however, there was no scientific data nor official toxicological or microbiological assessments to support these fears.
The EU’s new decision is a clear victory for large Nordic producers, particularly Poland and Norway, where salmon is processed on an industrial scale. In fact, without the 96 hour limit:
The producers are obviously very satisfied, the ruling in fact gives companies the possibility of organizing processing times according to their needs. But can the risks also increase?
The worries
According to ANFACO-CECOPESCA, which represents the Spanish fishing and processing sector, eliminating the limit could reduce controls on the quality and safety of products and create unfair competition between countries with different standards.
The Spanish smoked fish industry expresses strong concern and disappointment with the Court’s decision, believing that the elimination of the 96-hour limit could compromise both the quality and safety of products intended for European consumers. The limit was in fact already recommended by the ESSA (European Smoked Salmon Association) guidelines as good processing practice.
There is also the risk of deceptive practices, because without a time constraint the fish could be stored at unsafe temperatures for prolonged periods, allowing the “defrosted” indication on labels to be avoided and reducing transparency towards consumers.
The Spanish associations have already announced several initiatives to protect the quality and safety of products: strengthening controls on smoked products imported from Poland, collaborating with consumers and distributors to ensure good practices and greater transparency but above all requesting the European Commission for an urgent consultation with EFSA and the adoption of a new delegated act that establishes clear and certain rules for the sector.
