Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee on food, veterinary and plant health control and inspection
Date: 1998-01-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: consumer protection, food inspection, health policy, plant health control, veterinary inspection

"éSfPfa» 

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 28.01.1998 
COM(1998) 32 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT. THE COUNCIL 
AND THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 

ON FOOD, VETERINARY AND PLANT 
HEALTH CONTROL AND INSPECTION 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This Communication  indicates the progress made to date with the action outlined in 
the  Commission's  Communication  on  Consumer  Health  and  Food  Safety  (COM 
(97)  183  final)  of  30  March  1997. It  also  describes  the  future  action  that  will  be 
taken  in  the  light  of  the  recommendations  made  in  the  report  of  its  Inspection 
General  Services  (IGS)  on  "A  study  of  the  food  safety  control  bodies"  on  13 
October  1997  (referred 
this 
Communication). 

the  "IGS  report" 

to  simply  as 

throughout 

The  Commission  reiterates  its  whole-hearted  commitment  to  the  maintenance  of 
acceptable  food  safety  standards,  and  the  protection  of  consumer  health.  It  is 
strongly  of the view that  consumer health  protection  can best be  achieved  through 
an  effective,  working  partnership  between  the  food  industry,  the  official  control 
services  at  national  level  and  the  Commission  itself,  within  the  framework  of  an 
effective  legislation.  Each group must  accept its responsibilities  to ensure that  food 
safety  is  given  the  highest  priority,  and  to  act  in  a  transparent  manner  to  provide 
consumers with the highest level of confidence. 

The  food  industry,  at all  stages of the production  chain, needs to develop  effective 
monitoring  and self-policing  systems to ensure that food  is produced  in compliance 
with  EU  food  safety  legislative  requirements.  Member  States,  by  developing  co 
ordinated control programmes covering the whole of the food production  chain, and 
the introduction of audit-based control systems to monitor the situation in individual 
premises,  will  be  able  to  discharge  their  fundamental  responsibility  for  consumer 
health protection  at the national  level. The role of the Commission  is essentially  to 
"control  the  controls",  for  which  the  Member  State  authorities  retain  the  central 
responsibility. The Commission will concentrate on controlling the manner in which 
Community  legislation  is being  applied  in practice  by  national  authorities  through 
the use  of  audit  techniques  designed  to monitor  the performance  of  the  competent 
authorities throughout the food production chain. Nonetheless, it must be recognized 
that  the  application  of  the  full  range  of  these  controls  by  the  Commission  will 
always be challenging. 

in  mind 

the  above  comments, 

Bearing 
the 
recommendations made in Chapter V of the first part of the IGS report. It considers 
that the report, which  supports, and expands upon, the actions  already  taken by the 
Commission  in  recent  months,  forms  a  sound  basis  for  further  development  of  its 
control and inspection services. 

the  Commission  endorses 

2. 

THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMMISSION'S FOOD, VETERINARY  AND PHYTOSANITARY 

CONTROL SERVICES 

2.1 

Commission Office  or Agency? 

The proposal (COM (96) 223 final) for the establishment  of a Veterinary Inspection 
Agency  has  been  withdrawn  by  the  Commission.  Neither  the  final  report  of  the 
European  Parliament's temporary BSE follow-up  committee, nor the Economic and 
Social  Committee,  nor  the  IGS  report,  considered  that  any  additional  advantage 
would be gained from the establishment of an independent Agency. 

z 

The  IGS  report  noted  that  food  safety  control  services  must  enjoy  an  adequate 
degree  of  independence  if they  are to  offer  an  acceptable  level  of  impartiality  and 
objectivity  in  their  findings.  It  also  noted  that  these  goals  were  best  achieved 
through the establishment of a clearly defined  legal and official  status for the control 
services, covering their mission, the functions  and responsibilities  of personnel, the 
procedures, the working techniques etc. 

By  retaining  the  Commission's  food  safety  control  responsibilities  within  its  own 
services, the  necessary  distance  can be  maintained  between  these  services  and  the 
national  authorities who will be the subject  of its control  activities  (a situation  that 
can  be  better  achieved  by  an  Office  than  by  an  Agency).  Furthermore,  the 
Commission  is accountable to the other  Community  institutions  and to  consumers, 
whilst  avoiding  the risks of  isolation from the  decision  making  process  that  might 
follow  from  the establishment  of an Agency. The development  of the  management 
and  operational  changes  outlined  in  the  earlier  Communication,  and  further 
developed  here, will  ensure that  the  services  act  in  a transparent,  and  independent, 
manner. 

The  Commission  has  therefore  come  to  the  conclusion  that  control  and  inspection 
responsibilities  will  continue  to  be  undertaken  by  the  Food  and  Veterinary  Office 
(FVO), under the overall responsibility of the Commission. 

2.2 

Commission initiatives 

The  two  Decisions  which  are to be  adopted  by  the  Commission  before  the  end  of 
January lay down rules on the performance  of veterinary on-the-spot checks in both 
Member  States  and  third  countries.  These  provide  a  public  commitment  by  the 
Commission  and  Member  States  to  accelerate  the  processing  of  mission  findings, 
and  to  ensure  that  these  findings,  and  recommendations  for  action  following  from 
them, are made rapidly available both to the European Parliament and to the general 
public. 

If it is found to be necessary, the Commission will prepare guidelines, based on best 
practices,  to  assist  Member  States  in  developing  co-ordinated  control  programmes 
covering the whole of the food production chain, and the introduction of audit-based 
control systems, 

Furthermore,  the  need  for  additional  controls  at  Member  State  level  in  respect  of 
food  safety  standards for non-animal origin foodstuffs,  eg. fruits  and vegetables, will 
be examined by the Commission  in order to assess whether  further  action is needed 
at national or Community level. 

2.3 

Transparency of operation 

Transparency  can best  be  guaranteed  by ensuring  that  the FVO works  in  a  manner 
which  respects  published  operational  standards,  and  which  is  open  to  outside 
scrutiny.  Based  upon  the  recommendations  of  the  IGS  report,  a  Manual  of 
Procedures,  covering  all  aspects  of the  FVO's  activities,  is being  developed.  This 
will  be  supported  by the development  of effective  internal  management  controls  to 
monitor the implementation of the Manual's requirements. 

3 

Article 214 of the Treaty of the European Community  lays down certain principles 
that  must  be  respected  in  terms  of  the  release  of  information,  on  individual 
undertakings, but, within these confines,  the FVO will make  every effort  to  ensure 
that  its  findings  are  freely  available.  An  internet  site  for  the  FVO,  which  can  be 
accessed  via  the  DG  XXIV  home  page  through  the  Europa  server,  is  being 
established. 

The  FVO will  publish  an  annual  report  of  its  activities  for  general  distribution.  A 
copy of the report will be placed on the internet, and widely circulated. 

Discussions with consumer and producer associations will be organised regularly to 
discuss the outcome of the inspection programmes. 

3. 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FOOD AND VETERINARY OFFICE 

3.1 

Human resources 

to  meet 

their  commitments.  The  Commission  has  accepted 

The  IGS  report  (SEC  (97)  482/3)  of  11  March  1997,  recommended  that  the 
Commission's  control  services required  a total  of 202 posts, including  127 A grade 
this 
posts, 
recommendation  and  will  progressively  make  these  posts  available  such  that  the 
FVO can take on board the full range of its responsibilities. In addition to the  efforts 
made to redeploy  staff  within the Commission, the role of the Budgetary  Authority 
in  providing  35  posts,  and  credits  for  12  auxiliaries,  in  the  BRS  1997  is 
acknowledged. 

3.2  Working procedures 

The action outlined in the earlier Commission communication (COM(97) 183 final), 
regarding the standardisation of working procedures and the development of mission 
prioritisation  system is being developed. Once this work has been completed, it will 
form the basis of the FVO's standard working practices, and be incorporated  into the 
proposed Manual of Procedures. 

3.3 

Control over the whole food production chain 

This approach was widely supported  in the countries visited by the IGS team during 
its  inquiry.  It will  involve the development  of  small, multi-disciplinary,  inspection 
teams  to  respond  to  the  priorities  identified  under  the  mission  programme.  Each 
team  will  be  staffed  to  allow  it  to  cover  all  elements  of  the  chosen  sector,  from 
animal feed processors, through health and welfare  standards on farms, markets and 
during transport, to the processing, storage and distribution of the foods  concerned. 

It is also proposed  to develop a small number of emergency teams, specially trained 
in  epidemiological  and  investigation  techniques,  whose  main  function  will  be  to 
respond  immediately  to  food,  public  health,  animal  health  and  plant  health  crises 
both in Member States and third countries. 

In  undertaking  these  controls,  the  protection  of  food  safety  is  the  central  element. 
However,  where  there  is  a  direct  link  between  food  safety  and  food  quality 
standards, the controls may include the latter element. 

v 

3.4 

Audit and inspection procedures 

For  the  sake  of  efficiency,  transparency  and  in  application  of  the  principle  of 
subsidiarity, the FVO will, as far as possible, perform  its control duties by means of 
audits  of  the  bodies  responsible  for  consumer  health  protection  in  both  Member 
States  and  certain  third  countries  (those  where  agreements  between  the  European 
Community  and  the  third  country  concerned  on  sanitary  measures  applicable  to 
trade have entered into force). 

Audit  visits  will  routinely  include inspections  at individual  processing  premises  to 
allow  an  assessment  to  be  made  of  the  performance  of  the  competent  authority, 
individual  inspectors  and  control  systems. They  will  also  include  checks  to  ensure 
that the operational records presented  to the FVO inspectors  fully  reflect  the reality 
of the situation ("reality checks"). 

In third  countries  for  which  no  agreements  between  the  European  Community  and 
the  third  country  concerned  on  sanitary  measures  applicable  to  trade  have  entered 
into force, the FVO will assess the ability of the official  control authorities to ensure 
the respect of the standards laid down in  Community  legislation, including visits to 
individual  farms,  markets,  processing  establishments  etc  to  assess  compliance  on-
the-spot with the relevant legislation by producers, transporters and processors. 

When  inspections  are  carried  out  in  third  countries,  the  relevant  provisions  of  the 
WTO-Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and in 
particular Article 8 and Annex C thereof, shall be respected. 

3.5. 

Internal controls 

The  IGS  report  recommended  that  the  FVO  should  take  account  of  the  principles 
outlined  in EN 45004 (General  criteria  for  the operation  of various types of bodies 
performing  inspection).  In  light  of  this,  and  as  part  of  its  commitment  to  the 
transparency  of  its  internal, management  system,  an  internal  Quality  Team  will  be 
established  within  the  FVO.  Particular  attention  will  be  paid  to  ensure  that  the 
Quality  Team  enjoys  a  status  that  is  independent  of  the  Office's 
internal 
management structure, as is required for such structures under EN 45004. 

The  changes  to  operational  and  management  procedures,  and  the  expansion  of  the 
Office,  has meant that a structured staff training programme is being implemented. 

3.6.  Co-operation 

The  FVO  will  work  closely  with  other  bodies  involved  in  the  monitoring  of 
compliance with  Community  legislation  in Member  States  and third  countries,  and 
internationally.  It  will  seek  to  develop  improved  co-operation  procedures  with 
interested parties to ensure the most effective  use of its resources in the  performance 
of its control and inspection duties. 

<) 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(98) 32 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

03  05  15 

Catalogue number  :  CB-CO-98-049-EN-C 

ISBN 92-78-30710-6 

Office  for Official  Publications of the European  Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg 

G