Pest control

What the rules require of food premises

Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs applies to anyone who prepares, serves or sells food after primary production (Article 4(2)). Its Annex II asks for two things: that the premises allow good hygiene practice, in particular pest control (Chapter I, point 2(c)), and that adequate procedures to control pests are applied (Chapter IX, point 4). In the trade it is called a prerequisite or general hygiene plan, and it sits alongside HACCP and food traceability.

A café example: sealing the gap where the pipe enters the storeroom, fitting insect screens, placing traps at numbered points on a floor plan, checking them at a set frequency and writing down every check and every finding. If a cockroach turns up next to the coffee machine, it is not a cleaning detail: it is an incident under the plan, and what was done about it is recorded.

Who may apply biocides depends on the product. Those authorised for specialised professional users may only be applied by someone with the training required by Royal Decree 830/2010, the Spanish rules on training for biocide treatments (Articles 1(2), 3 and 4), and a company treating other people's premises appoints a technical manager (Article 5(1)) and, before starting, registers with the Registro Oficial de Establecimientos y Servicios Biocidas (the official register of biocide establishments and services) of its autonomous community (Orden SCO/3269/2006, Article 3). So does a business open to the public that treats its own premises with its own staff (Articles 2(c) and 3(2)(b)). Products for the general public fall outside that royal decree.