Transport

Shipping of vegetable oils and fats into Europe by sea voyage benefits from specific conditions.  It is permitted in bulk tanks, in which substances included in a positive list (acceptable previous cargoes) were transported.

Strict criteria were established by the Scientific Committee for Food to define the list of acceptable previous cargoes. These criteria were reconfirmed by EFSA in 2009.
In addition, the lining of the ship tanks can determine in some cases whether the immediate previous cargo or the three previous cargoes have to be on the positive list.  For ocean carriers, only the immediate previous cargo needs to comply with the positive list (see details in 07COD139 Annex 2).
Strict cleaning procedures are also defined by the sector (see 07COD138).

For road transport, train and barges, the transport of oils and fats is food dedicated.  The definition of food acceptable as previous cargo has been defined by the oils and fats sector in a short list of recommended substances in order to guarantee an optimal cleaning of the tanks (see 07COD139 Annex 1).

• Link to CoP
  • Transport in bulk of oils into or within the European Union (07COD139) (Annex 1-FEDIOL list of foodstuffs, Annex 2- Practical guide to previous cargoes)
  • Cleaning of bulk road tankers and tank containers for direct food use (07COD138)
• Link to legislation
  • Reg. 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs
  • Commission Directive 2004/4/EC amending Dir. 96/3/EC granting a derogation from certain provisions of the Council Directive 93/43/EEC on the hygiene of foodstuffs as regards the transport of bulk liquid oils and fats by sea.
  • Commission Directive 96/3/EC granting a derogation from certain provisions of the Council Directive 93/43/EEC on the hygiene of foodstuffs as regards the transport of bulk liquid oils and fats by sea.
• Link to EFSA opinions on
  • the criteria for acceptable previous cargoes for edible oils and fats (2009)
  • the evaluation of substances as acceptable previous cargoes for edible fats and oils (2010)