COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM(94) 567 final 
Brussels, 06.12.1994 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
on the application of Article 14 
of Council Directive 89/397/REC of 14th June 1989 on the official control of 
foodstuffs. 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AMP THE FURQPEAN PAR, .AIJPMT 
on the application of Article 14 
Of Council Directive 89/397/EEC of 14th June 1989 n» th* nffidal c^ifrnl rt 
foodstuffs, 
Introduction 
Directive 89/397/EEC harmonises the general principles governing the carrying out of 
the official control of foodstuffs. This control also covers additives and materials which 
come into contact with foodstuffs and is aimed at preventing health risks, protecting 
consumer interests and ensuring fair trade. 
The Directive allows Member States a certain degree of freedom as to the practical means 
of carrying out inspections "so as not to interfere with systems of proven worth which are 
best suited for the particular stiuation in each Member State". It is fair to say however, 
that substantial differences exist between the official food control systems in each 
Member State. 
Article 14 of this Directive obliges Member States to draw up forward programmes 
laying down the nature and frequency of the inspections to be carried out regularly and to 
send to the Commission all the necessary information on the implementation during the 
previous year of their inspections programmes. The statistics, which represent these 
inspection results, should provide a general impression of the state of affairs of official 
food control in the Community. They serve as a source of useful information for both the 
Commission and the competent authorities of the Member States and will help to 
establish mutual confidence in the functioning of the internal market. 
Right from the beginning, the Commission has tried, in consultation with the Member 
States, to harmonise the way individual returns are communicated to the Commission so 
that the inspection results are obtained in a comparable manner. Caution must be used 
however, when these results are compared, not only because of the different way the 
control services operate, but also because of the absence of common quality control 
standards both for laboratories and methods of analysis. 
Article 14 also requires the Commission to transmit to the Member States a 
recommendation concerning a coordinated programme of inspections for the following 
year, the implementation of which has to appear as a separate section in the statistics. 
In close cooperation with the Member States, the Commission prepares each year a list of 
subjects on which the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs has to be consulted. 
2-
A contribution on an informal and expert basis to the drawing up of these coordinated 
programmes is also given by FLEP (Food Law Enforcement Practitioners), an 
independent organisation of food control officials in the EC and EFTA countries. 
The last paragraph of Article 14 requires the Commission, five years after the notification 
of Directive 89/397/EEC to transmit to the Council a report on the application of that 
article, accompanied if necessary by any appropriate proposals. This report puts this 
obligation into effect. It consists of three parts: chapter 1 refers to the programmes of 
inspection, chapter II to the coordinated programmes of inspections and chapter III to 
conclusions and Commission recommendations. 
I 
Member States' Programmes of Inspection 
Member States are requested to send to the Commission all the necessary information on 
implementation during the previous year of their inspection programmes, specifying 
the criteria applied in drawing up these programmes 
the number and type of inspections carried out 
the number and type of infringements established. 
In June 1990, a working group of experts from Member States and the Commission 
developed a format which is now used by all Member States to send their statistical 
results to the Commission (Annex I). It provides an overall view of the official control 
activities: coverage of the food sector, distribution by categories of infringement 
(hygiene, contaminants, composition, labelling) and sampling and analysis by categories 
of products including the total number of samples and infringements. 
Directive 89/397/EEC applies without prejudice to more specific regulations and the 
format refers to all foodstuffs with the exception of those where results of inspection 
need reporting within the framework of the other, more specific Directives. 
The results for 1991 and 1992 were examined during the meetings with the Member 
States in the framework of the working group "foodstuffs legislation, subgroup official 
control of foodstuffs". 
The objectives were: 
to have a global view on how the official control of foodstuffs is carried 
out in every Member State 
- J 
to try to evaluate general trends 
to provide an exchange of information in order to improve the control-
system in each Member State. 
Evaluation of the system 
The transmission to the Commission of standardised information on food control results 
has required a great effort from the Member States, which had to adapt their own 
reporting systems. This has not always been easy, especially when the control is 
executed by independent regional or local authorities. 
Nevertheless all Member States sent information on the results of their official food 
controls by using the required format and some accompanied them with additional 
information which made the results easier to understand. ? 
Not all statistics referring to these two years are complete but there is a clear 
improvement in the way the 1992 statistics have been prepared in comparison with those 
of 1991. This made it possible to draw some conclusions from the results received. For 
instance, in those Member States which returned a complete format, the percentage of the 
actual number of visited establishments during the year under consideration and the 
number of establishments eligible for official food inspection is more or less comparable. 
(D: 96%, DK: 96.5%, L: 71%, UK: 70%). Furthermore, it turns out that the number of 
inspections on average is about twice as high as the number of visited establishments (D: 
xl .95, DK: xl .95, L: xl .76, NL: x2,5, UK: x2.1). 
So far as the incidence of infringements, which refer to on the spot controls, is concerned, 
almost every Member State has a comparable pattern with most infringements in the field 
of hygiene, followed by additives, contaminants and composition and finally labelling 
and presentation. This may reflect that Member States put great emphasis on hygiene 
inspections and carry out inspections in high risk areas. 
From discussions within the working group it became clear that some apparent 
discrepancies, such as the number of infringements mentioned under the heading 
"contamination other than microbiological" could be properly explained as it appeared 
that some Member States included undesirable substances (foreign bodies, dead insects 
etc.) under the heading "contamination other than microbiological" and others did not. 
Also, Member States use different interpretations of the basic concepts of the statistics 
like, for instance, that of "infringement". Sometimes, non-conformity with legal 
requirements gives rise to an oral warning of the competent authorities. In certain 
Member States such warnings have a formal meaning and, consequently are reported in 
the statistics, whilst in others this is not the case. 
It is for this reason that the Commission in association with the working group, is 
preparing a vade mecum to be used in the preparation of the statistics, which hopefully 
will reduce the number of inconsistencies. Member States will also be asked to add an 
explanatory note to their reports. 
II 
The coordinated programmes of inspection 
Member States send the Commission their inspection results and, in the opinion of the 
Commission, the statistics received form an appropriate base for subsequent discussions 
with the Member States on the coordinated control programme in the Community for the 
following year. For this reason the Commission asked the Member States in February 
1991 to provide the information relating to 1990 on a voluntary basis as, strictly 
speaking, the requirement of Article 14 was not yet in force in 1991. 
Five Member States reacted to the Commission's request and the Commission decided to 
draft a recommendation based on the results of the statistics received. It was entirely 
focused on the control on microbiological contamination of a number of perishable 
products but the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs did not support this approach and 
suggested to involve experts from the Member States in the drawing-up of the 
coordinated programme of inspections. The Commission then decided to withdraw its 
proposal for a coordinated programme of inspections for 1992 and convened in the 
course of that year a working group of experts from the Member States to discuss the 
programme for 1993. 
Together with these experts, the Commission succeeded in drawing up a proposal for the 
1993 programme which was acceptable for the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs. This 
programme (OJ No L 350/85 of 1/12/92) contains a recommendation for the Member 
States to take samples of the following products and to analyse the specific parameters. 
1. Adulteration of orange juice. 
2. Nitrates and nitrites in baby foods containing vegetables. 
3. Weight inspections for deep frozen seafood 
4. Microbiological tests on edible ices. 
5. Microbiological tests in ready-made foods. 
The Commission decided not to set rates for sampling but suggested that sampling must 
be such that it provides an overview of the market in the foodstuffs concerned. No 
stipulations were laid down with regard to methods of analysis. Each Member State will 
take the samples in the context of its own official food control programme and analyse 
them on the basis of its standard rules. The methods used must be mentioned or 
described briefly. 
-5-
The 1994 recommendation was accepted by the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs (OJ 
No. L 80/24 of 24/3/94) and comprises the following subjects. 
1. Aflatoxin Bl in products liable to contain aflatoxin Bl especially those intended 
for children. 
2. Lysteria monocytogenes in meat based pâtes, sold in the retail sector. 
3. Adulteration of frozen, fish-based products. 
4. Adulteration of goat's and sheep's cheese. 
As a consequence of the discussion in the working group, this time each subject was 
accompanied by a suggested method of analysis. In order not to overburden the budget 
for laboratory costs in certain Member States, it was decided to limit the number of 
subjects to four. 
Discussion on the 1995 programme started early this year and the working group was 
able to agree on the following criteria for the future coordinated programmes of 
inspection: 
if subjects relate to products, these should be freely sold on the market in 
many, preferably all Member States 
controls should refer to problem areas 
controls may include on the spot inspections 
the programme should reflect elements of both protection of public health 
and fairness in trade 
the required methods of analysis should be reasonably applicable by the 
control laboratories of all Member States 
controls covered by other Community control programmes should be 
avoided 
controls should refer to the enforcement of Community legislation. 
The idea is to use those criteria as a basis for a selection procedure, it does not 
necessarily mean that each chosen subject complies with all the criteria. 
Although it is too early to draw conclusions as the results of the first (1993) control 
programme are not known, it is felt that the execution of these programmes contribute to 
the mutual confidence between the competent authorities of the Member States. 
Ill 
Conclusions and Recommendations 
The enforcement of food law in the Community is basicity a matter for the Member 
States. Control Directive 89/397/EEC only harmonises the general principles of food 
control but the preamble refers to the necessity for Member States to lay down their 
inspection programmes with appropriate criteria and arrange for coordinated programmes 
at Community level with a view to the completion and operation of the internal market. 
• • * -T 
The Commission feels that the results of the inspection programmes and the coordinated 
programme are inter-related and that problem areas, shown by the statistics should form 
the basis for the coordinated programme of the next year. As long as the results of the 
statistics are not conclusive, the present procedure should be maintained, however, 
especially since there is a growing consensus between Member States and the 
Commission on how to arrive at a recommendation for a coordinated programme of 
inspections. 
The longstanding tradition of food law enforcement and its specific character in each 
Member State - in fact, the laws and regulations on foodstuffs belong to the oldest in 
society - probably explain why the statistics received from the Member States are 
difficult to compare. The format agreed upon by Member States and the Commission 
aims at a uniform representation of the inspection results but despite its rather detailed 
structure Member States use different interpretations of concepts like "establishment", 
"infringement", "inspection" and "sample". At the April 1994 meeting of technical 
experts and the Commission it was agreed that the Commission would prepare a vade-
mecum, which will try to harmonise these concepts. Furthermore, each Member State 
will be asked to add an explanatory memorandum to their statistics, describing in more 
detail what these concepts mean. 
As already mentioned in the Introduction, the absence of common quality control 
standards both for laboratories and methods of analysis used is another reason why the 
individual statistics give difficulties in interpretation. 
In 1993, the Council adopted specific provisions to further approximate the national 
legislation with respect to the official control of foodstuffs (Council Directive 93/99/EEC 
on 29th October 1993 on the subject of additional measures concerning the official 
control of foodstuffs). Notably articles 3 and 4 refer to these quality control standards 
but Member States have 60 months after the adoption of the Directive to bring into force 
their legislation to comply with Article 3. Until October 1998, therefore, this problem 
remains unsolved. 
-7 
One of the provisions of this Directive is the establishment of a group of specific 
officials, appointed and designated by the Commission to cooperate with the competent 
authorities of the Member States to monitor and evaluate the equivalence and 
effectiveness of national food control systems. 
Recent discussions with the Member States reveal that there is a clear need for such a 
group in order to provide practical guarantees that Community law relating to foodstuffs 
is being applied consistently throughout the Community. 
The Commission wants this new service to start its work as soon as possible and 
preparatory work is already foreseen for this year. 
It is envisaged to set up small équipes of 2-3 officials from both the Commission and 
Member States which will visit each Member State in order to discuss the official food 
inspection system in operation, notably in the light of the statistics and the results of the 
coordinated programme of inspections. 
In a second phase, of indefinite duration, attention will be paid to control and 
enforcement itself, and in particular to how food law is applied with emphasis on aspects 
of Community interests. 
It is believed that this Commission inspectorate could well start with 4 Commission 
officials of grade A, 1 B official (for statistical and filing matters) and 1 C official for 
secretarial work. It is proposed that the recruitment of these officials take place 
progressively, with 2 A officials being recruited annually during 1995-96. 
As far as the participation of Member States is concerned, the Council and the 
Commission agreed that the Commission will seek a high level of cooperation with the 
competent authorities of the Member States with a view to establishing a list of specific 
officials who in particular make use of skills within those authorities with regard to the 
evaluation of official food control systems. The salaries of those officials will be paid by 
the Member States but travel expenses and subsistence allowances will be paid for by the 
Commission. A "fiche financière" belonging to this new service is attached (Annex 2). 
To summarise: the results of the inspection programmes - the coordinated programmes 
included - arc not mutually comparable yet. Individually, they should be considered, 
however, as important tools for the officials, meant in Article 5 of Council Directive 
93/99/EEC to do their job. 
-8-
MMffiR STATE - 1 ANNEX I 
YEAR 
Number and type of inspections carried out and infringements established (according to article \A of Council Directive 
89/397/EEC). 
&) Control on the spot, 
Number of establishments 
Number of visited establishments 
Number of control visits 
Number of establishments 
with infringements (*) Producers Manufacturors Importers Distributors Retailers Restaurant keepers Total 
and and and and other caterors 
packers exporters transporters 
Type nf infringements (*) 
Producers Manufacturors Importers Distributors Retailers Restaurant keepers Total 
and and and and other caterors 
packers exporters transporters 
Hygiene, general (handling 
procedures, equipment and 
condition of the premises) 
Hygiene of personnel Un­
conformity with art. 8 of 
the Control Directive) 
Composition (including raw 
materials and additives) 
Contamination other than 
microbiological 
Labeling and presentation 
Others 
(*) Only the ones which have led to formal action by the competent authorities. 
.fel Laboratory-results - 2 -
Product Samples with infringements (*) 
Number 
of samples Miciobiologicai 
contamination Other 
contaminât i on Composi t ion Labelling and 
presentation Others Total nr' of 
s amp les 
G 1 Dairy products 
2 Eggs and egg products 
3 Meat and meat products, 
game and poultry 
4 Fish, Crustacea, molluscs 
5 Fats and oils 
6 Soups, broths, sauces 
7 Cereals and bakery products 
8 Fruits and vegetables 
9 Herbs and spices 
10 Non alcoholic drinks 
11 Wine 
12 Alcoholic drinks 
other than wine 
13 Ice and deserts 
14 Cocoa and cocoa preparations, 
coffee and tea 
15 Confectionery 
16 Nuts and nut products, snacks 
17 Prepared dishes 
18 Foodstuffs intended for 
particular nutritional uses 
19 Addi tives 
20 Materials and articles 
intended to come into 
contact with foodstuffs 
21 Others 
(*) Only the ones which have led to formal action by the competent authorities' 
ANNEX II 
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 
Section 1 : financial implications 
1. Title of the operation 
Monitoring and evaluation of the equivalence and effectiveness of food control system's 
in the Member States by Commission staff assisted by national officials, as provided for 
in Directive 93/99/EEC. 
2. Budget headings involved 
A-110: statutory staff 
A-130 : missions 
A-501 : data processing equipment 
B5-300: internal market 
3. Legal basis 
Article 100A of the EC Treaty. 
Council Directive 93/99/EEC of 29 October 1993 on additional measures concerning the 
official control of foodstuffs (Article 5). 
4. Description of operation 
4.1 Specific objectives 
The objective of this operation is to enable the Commission, together with the competent 
authorities of the Member States, to control national food control systems in order to 
ensure that Community legislation on foodstuffs is applied uniformly throughout the 
Community so that the internal market can function properly. To this end, staff 
appointed by the Commission will be assisted on their missions by national officials from 
Member States other that that which is being controlled. 
U 
The operation should also allow the Commission's departments to act as mediators to 
solve problems between Member States and thus promote mutual recognition of their 
products. 
4.2 Duration : unspecified. Needs will be reviewed at the end of 1996. 
4.3 Population targeted: 
directly : official food control bodies in the Member States 
indirectly : economic operators in the foodstuffs sector 
$. Classification of expenditure 
5.1 non-compulsory expenditure 
5.2 non-differentiated appropriations for part A expenditure 
differentiated appropriations for heading B5-300 
5.3 Revenue: nil 
6. Type of expenditure or revenue 
6.1 100% subsidy: no 
6.2 Subsidy for joint financing: Payment of travel expenses and subsistence 
allowances of national officials who take part in 
control missions in the Member States 
6.3 Interest subsidy: no 
6.4 Other: statutory or contractual 
6.5 Possibility of partial reimbursement: no 
6.6 Change in revenue: no 
12 
7. Financial impact on appropriations for operations 
Staff and mission expenditure is covered by part A. Travel expenses and subsistence 
allowances of national officials will be covered by heading B5-300 "Internal market". 
For 1995, expenditure is estimated at ECU 60 000 and for the following years ECU 
70 000 will be needed. The cost of publishing reports, estimated at ECU 20 000 will also 
be covered by heading B5-300. Needs may be covered by appropriations requested in the 
1995 preliminary draft budget. They will be the object of a request for the following 
years, and the expenditure will be incorporated into DG Ill's financial programming." 
7.1 Method of calculating expenditure covered by heading B5-300 
Travel expenses and subsistence allowances for national officials: average cost for a 
three-week mission for one person: ECU 5 000. Expenses shall be paid on the basis of 
an agreement drawn up between the Member Stale employing the official and the 
Commission. 
Publication: estimated at ECU 20 000 based on previous experience (publication of 
opinions of the Scientific Committee). 
7.2 Annual breakdown of cost 
1994: token entry 
1995: travel expenses and subsistence allowances of national officials : ECU 60 000 
1996 and following years: travel expenses and subsistence allowances of national 
officials: ICCIJ 70 000 
Publication of mission reports: ECU 20 000 
13 
8. Fraud prevention measures 
Expenditure will be controlled by the departments concerned and proofs of payment will 
be required. Pursuant to Article 2 of the Financial Regulation, the appropriations will be 
used in accordance with the principles of good financial managment, including economy 
and cost-effectiveness. 
Section 2: Administrative expenditure (part A of the budgets 
1. Increase in the number of Commission staff 
This involves recruiting extra staff, estimated at 4 A category officials or temporary staff 
(two in 1995 and two in 1996), 1 B category official and 1 C category official, depending 
on the results of the 1995 budget procedure and the Commission's decision concerning 
the allocation of human resources authorized by the 1995 budget. 
2. Amount of staff and administrative expenditure 
For staff, costs are evaluated on the basis of figures provided by DG IX. 
For missions, an estimate has been given by DG Ill's financial department. The average 
mission lasts two weeks (meeting Ministry officials and visiting local departments). 
Average cost: ECU 2 500. The average cost of a preparatory mission is ECU 1 000. 
For data processing equipment, an estimate has been provided by DG Ill's data 
processing department. 
Forecast administrative expenditure 
1995 budget year 
Recruitment of two A category officials or temporary staff : ECU 160 000 
Recruitment of one B category official ECU 65 000 
Recruitment of one C category official (secretary) ECU 50 000 
Data processing equipment for the new officials 
(4 PC + 2 IMP) ECU 24 000 
12 two-day preparatory missions for one person ECU 12 000 
12 two-week missions for one person ECU 30 000 
14 
1996 budget year 
Recruitment of two A category officials or temporary staff : ECU 160 000 
14 wo-day preparatory missions for one person ECU 14 000 
14 two-week missions for one person ECU 22 500 
Data processing equipment for the persons recruited 
(2 PC and 1 IMP) ECU 12 000 
Section 3: Elements of cost-effectiveness analysis 
1. Objective and coherence with financial programming 
1.1 Specific objective 
The internal market in foodstuffs cannot function properly unless controls are considered 
equivalent and are therefore recognized by all the Member States. 
Although the Member States are still responsible for the official control of foodstuffs, the 
Commission has a key role to play in this field, especially in checking whether controls 
are of a high standard, liaising between the control services in different Member States 
and, if necessary, acting as a mediator in case of dispute. 
1.2 DG's financial programming: yes 
1.3 General objective 
The objective of this action is first and foremost to contribute to the proper functioning of 
the internal market and, more generally, to ensure the uniform application of Community 
law. 
2. Grounds for the operation 
Similar objectives could be achieved by setting up a "Food Agency" but this idea was 
rejected because it is not politically desirable to have too many agencies. Moreover, 
while it is difficult to put a figure to the exact cost of setting up a new agency, it would 
certainly be more expensive than recruiting several new officials. Also, given the nature 
of the tasks which will be assigned to the new officials, it is preferable for them to be 
totally independent of the Member States. 
15 
3. Monitoring and evaluation of the operation 
3.1 Performance indicators selected 
- number of control reports 
- qualitative improvement of national controls 
- number of disputes resolved 
3.2 Details and frequency of cvalution 
At the beginning of each year the team of officials will draw up a work programme 
which will later be assessed by a report. The report will be used as a basis for the 
following year's work programme. 
3.3 Uncertainty factors 
The main uncertainty factor is whether or not suitably qualified staff can be recruited for 
the job. 
\6 
BSN 0254-1475 
COM (94) 567 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN îo 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-94-589-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-83169-3 
Office for Officiai Publications of the European Comrnunfties 
L-2985 Luxembourg 
«î