REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND TO THE COUNCIL on the overall operation of official controls in the Member States on food safety, animal health and animal welfare, and plant health
Date: 2010-08-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal health, animal nutrition, animal welfare, foodstuff, foodstuffs legislation, veterinary inspection

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 25.8.2010 
COM(2010) 441 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
TO THE COUNCIL 

on the overall operation of official controls in the Member States on food safety, animal 
health and animal welfare, and plant health 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
TO THE COUNCIL 

on the overall operation of official controls in the Member States on food safety, animal 
health and animal welfare, and plant health 

1. 

Background 
Article  44  (1)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  882/20041  ("the  Feed  and  Food  Controls 
Regulation") requires Member States to submit to the Commission each year a report 
on  the  implementation  of  their  multi-annual  national  control  plans  established  in 
compliance  with  Article  41  of  the  Regulation.  The  Regulation  requires  that  the 
reports contain: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

details of amendments to their multi-annual national control plans, to take into 
account  among  other  factors,  changes  in  legislation,  new  risk  patterns,  new 
science, the result of past controls; 

the  results  of  controls  and  audits  carried  out  in  the  previous  year  under  the 
national control plan; 

the  type  and  number  of  cases  of  non-compliance  identified  through  the 
controls; 

actions  to  ensure  effective  implementation  of  the  national  control  plan 
including enforcement actions and their results. 

In  this  context,  mention  should  also  be  made  of  the  complementary  provisions 
contained  in  Article  7  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  882/2004  on  the  need  for  Member 
States to ensure a high level of transparency in their control activities. 

Article  44  (4)  and  (6)  of  the  Regulation  requires  the  Commission  to  establish  and 
submit  to  the  European  Parliament  and  Council  an  annual  report  on  the  overall 
operation of controls in the Member States in the light of: 

(a) 

the annual reports submitted by the Member States,  

(b)  EU audits and inspections carried out in the Member States, and 

(c) 

any other relevant information. 

This  Report  may,  where  appropriate,  include  recommendations  on  possible 
improvements  to  official  control  and  audit  systems  in  Member  States,  specific 
control  actions  concerning  sectors  or  activities,  or  coordinated  plans  aiming  at 
addressing issues of particular interest. 

The main purpose of the Commission's annual report is to provide an overview of the 
way competent authorities in the Member States carry out official controls to verify 
compliance with food law legislation (in the broadest sense, including not only food 
and  feed  safety  but  also  animal  health  and  welfare  and  -  to  some  extent  –  plant 

1 

Regulation  (EC)  No  882/2004  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  29  April  2004  on 
official  controls  performed  to  ensure  the  verification  of  compliance  with  feed  and  food  law,  animal 
health and animal welfare rules (OJ L 165, 30.4.2004, p1). 

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health). The Commission considers that such a report should therefore also provide 
some basic indicators of the control activities carried out by Member States along the 
food chain in the different areas concerned, and of their outcome and results.  

In this first report attention is being given to the following objectives: 

– 

– 

to  provide  a  first  screening  of  the  data  and  information  on  official  controls 
which is currently available to the Commission, including an analysis of such 
data  and  information  resulting  from  the  first  set  of  annual  reports  transmitted 
by the Member States to the Commission in accordance with Article 44 (1);  

to  present  some  initial  conclusions  on  how  to  improve  the  current  system  of 
reporting by Member States. 

The Commission intends to initiate discussions with the Member States on the issues 
raised in this report, and specifically on how the collection and handling of data on 
official controls can be rationalised and streamlined. The Commission also intends to 
review with the Member States the state of implementation of Article 7 of Regulation 
(EC) No 882/2004 on the need to achieve a high level of transparency in their control 
activities.  Such  discussion  should  give  consideration  to  how  the  exercise  of 
rationalising and  streaming annual reports could help Member States  ensure a high 
level of transparency of their official control activities, as required in Article 7.  

2. 

Annual reports of the Member States 

The  Feed and Food  Controls Regulation  took effect from 1 January 2006. Member 
States were required to submit their first annual report on their control activities for 
2007. The deadline for submission was 1 July 2008. Reports were received from all 
but one Member State. 

The reports were received by the Commission in the second half of 2008 and early 
2009. Each report was assessed under six main headings, which broadly follow the 
recommended structure of reports in the Commission’s (non-binding) guidelines set 
out in Commission Decision 2008/654/EC2: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Results of controls 

Analysis of non-compliance 

Actions taken in cases of non-compliance 

National system of audits 

Actions to improve performance of control authorities 

Actions to improve performance of food business operators 

The Commission acknowledges the considerable efforts the Member States made in 
compiling their first annual reports under the Regulation. Overall, the annual reports 
gave  the  information  as  required  by  the  Regulation.  However,  the  information 
provided varied greatly in nature, detail and quality. Moreover, these were the very 
first  reports  submitted  by  the  Member  States  under  the  provisions  of  Art.  44. 
Accordingly,  the  contribution  which  this  information  could  make  to  this  first 

2 

Commission Decision 2008/654/ECof 24 July 2008 on guidelines to assist Member States in preparing 
the annual report on the single integrated multiannual national control plan provided for in Regulation 
(EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 214, 9.8.2008, p. 56). 

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Commission  report  on  the  overall  operation  of  official  controls  is  limited.  This 
situation has to be viewed also in the light of the information which had already been 
obtained  either  in  the  course  of  EU  controls  carried  out  under  Article  45  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  882/2004,  or  from  other  relevant  information  available  to  the 
Commission,  for  example  the  sectoral  reports  submitted  by  Member  States  under 
other provisions of EU legislation. 

A summary of the main results of the Commission's analysis of the reports received 
is set out below. For most Member States, their annual reports were compilations of 
and/or  references  to  reports  prepared  by  different  national  authorities  responsible 
respectively  for  food  of  plant  origin,  food  of  animal  origin,  animal  feed,  animal 
health,  animal  welfare  and  plant  health  though  not  always  following  the  overall 
approach  set  out  in  the  Commission  guidelines.  The  quality  of  the  information 
provided varied considerably according to which control authority was responsible. 
The summary also highlights where improvements could be made to take account of 
the Commission’s guidelines, and should therefore be considered in this context. 

Results of controls 

In most reports, data were given for the number and type of inspections, samples and 
analyses  carried  out  although  the  level  of  detail,  of  aggregation  and  the  overall 
quality  varied  greatly.  Information  on  controls  according  to  sector,  stage  of 
production or hazard/disease was usually given, but with variable levels of detail and 
differences in how data were structured and presented.  

Analysis of non-compliance 

Information  was  generally  missing  or  incomplete  on  the  type  and  number  of  non-
compliances identified.  

Actions taken in cases of non-compliance 

The  effectiveness  of  enforcement  action  over  time  depends  on  the  range  and 
consistency  of  remedial  actions  and  of  enforcement  tools  deployed  to  address  non-
compliances - what warnings/recommendations are issued, what fines imposed, what 
closures/movement restrictions/destructions ordered and legal proceedings taken. On 
the whole, information under this heading was limited and where it was provided the 
range and level of detail varied between Member States.  

National systems of audits 

Article  4.6  of  the  Regulation  places  an  important  requirement  on  the  authorities  in 
the  Member  States  to  carry  out  their  own  audits  to  ensure  they  are  meeting  the 
requirements  of  the  Regulation.  The  Commission  issued  guidelines  in  September 
2006 advising how the national systems of audit should be organised (Commission 
Decision  2006/677/EC3).  The  Regulation  specifies  that  annual  reports  from  the 
Member States should report on the results of such audits conducted in the previous 
year. With a few exceptions the details provided for this purpose were incomplete. It 
should be acknowledged, however, that many Member States were still only in the 
early stages of establishing audit systems at the time of preparing their 2007 reports. 

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Commission Decision 2006/677/EC of 29 September 2006 setting out the guidelines laying down criteria for the 
conduct of audits under Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official 
controls  to  verify  compliance  with  feed  and  food  law,  animal  health  and  animal  welfare  rules  (OJ  L  278, 
10.10.2006, p. 15 and OJ L 142M, 5.6.2007, p. 259). 

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Actions to improve performance of control authorities 

Under this heading, Member States were invited to report on actions taken in 2007 to 
improve  the  performance  of  the  control  authorities  themselves.  Apart  from 
information on training and on routine procedures, Member States generally reported 
little of significance under this heading, again with some exceptions. 

Actions to improve performance of food business operators 

Under this heading, Member States were asked to give information on what actions 
were  taken  to  improve  the  performance  of  the  different  actors  in  the  food  chain, 
through  publicity,  advice,  training,  etc.  In  practice  very  little  information  was 
provided  under  this  heading,  and  when  it  was  provided  it  varied  across  Member 
States in its detail and content. 

3. 

Commission  audits  and  inspections  in  the  Member  States  and  subsequent 
actions of the Commission 

The  Food  and  Veterinary  Office  (FVO)  of  the  Directorate  General  for  Health  and 
Consumers  undertakes  audits  and  inspections  to  verify  compliance  with  feed  and 
food law, animal health and animal welfare and plant health legislation, and to verify 
that  national  official  controls  in  these  areas  are  carried  out  in  line  with  EU 
legislation.  

Each year a programme of FVO inspections is developed, identifying priority areas 
and countries for inspection. These programmes are published on the website of the 
Health and Consumers Directorate-General4. In order to ensure that the programme 
remains up to date and relevant, it is reviewed mid-year. New inspections may need 
to  be  programmed,  for  example,  in  response  to  emerging  risks  such  as  disease 
outbreaks.  These  new  inspections  are  reflected  in  modifications  to  the  inspections 
programme. 

The  findings  of  each  audit  and  inspection  are  set  out  in  a  report,  together  with 
conclusions and recommendations to address identified shortcomings. The competent 
authorities of the country visited are given the opportunity to comment on the reports 
at draft stage. The FVO makes recommendations to those authorities to deal with any 
shortcomings  revealed  during  the  inspections.  Authorities  are  then  requested  to 
present an “action plan” describing how they have addressed or intend to address the 
recommendations.  In 
the  action  plan  and 
systematically  monitors  the  implementation  of  the  actions  through  a  number  of 
follow-up activities: general follow-up missions during which the FVO and Member 
State authorities meet to review progress made on recommendations to that Member 
State; on-the-spot follow-up inspections or audits in the areas concerned; requests for 
written  reports;  and  high-level  bilateral  meetings  in  the  event  of  over-arching  or 
persistent problems.  

the  Commission  evaluates 

turn, 

4 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/fvo/inspectprog/index_en.htm 

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Where  the  circumstances  require  it,  legal  action  may  be  taken  by  the  Commission. 
This  can  take  two  forms:  emergency,  or  safeguard,  measures  under  an  appropriate 
legal  basis5,  or  infringement  proceedings.  Where  an  inspection  identifies  an 
immediate  threat  to  human,  animal  or  plant  health,  the  Commission  may  take 
emergency  or  safeguard  measures.  These  may  include  legal  action  to  prevent  trade 
in, or imports of, feed, food, animals, and plants or any of their products. In addition, 
where  a  competent  authority  fails  to  take  satisfactory  corrective  action,  the 
Commission may commence infringement proceedings against that Member State.  

In this way, the Commission monitors and verifies on the spot in the Member States 
their compliance with feed and food law, animal health and welfare and plant health 
legislation,  and  where  appropriate  takes  action  to  protect  human,  animal  and  plant 
health  from  risks,  and/or  to  ensure  compliance  with  that  legislation.  In  addition 
through the publication of the inspection reports and the Member State action plans, 
as  well  as  regularly  updated  country  profiles,  it  provides  stakeholders  and  citizens 
with  a  factual  account  of  how  control  authorities  in  each  Member  State  deliver  on 
their duty to ensure and where necessary enforce, the correct implementation of the 
law in this area.  

An  annual  report  of  such  activities  is  produced,  as  required  under  art.  45(4)  of  the 
Feed  and  Food  Controls  Regulation,  and  published.  It  describes  in  some  detail  the 
overall  results  of  such  audits  and  inspections  for  the  year  in  question.  Reports 
covering  2007  and  2008  were  submitted  to  the  Parliament  and  Council  and  have 
already  been  published.  These  can  be  consulted  on  the  Europa  website6.  The  main 
problems identified in the audits and inspections carried out during the course of the 
year  in  question,  and  the  actions  taken  in  response  thereto,  are  set  out  in  those 
reports.  In  addition,  the  FVO  produces  other  reports,  such  as  general  overview 
reports that summarise the results of a series of inspections to a number of Member 
States on the same subject. 

Specifically as regards 2007 (the year to which the Member States' reports' referred 
to in paragraph 2 above relate), 260 inspections were planned by the FVO. Of those, 
209  were  completed,  63  were  removed  from  the  programme,  for  different  reasons, 
and 43 new ones. The total number of completed inspections was therefore 252, of 
which 159 took place in Member States, 12 in candidate countries7 and  81  in third 
countries8.  An  FVO  inspection  can  cover  a  number  of  different  or  overlapping 
objectives.  Each  objective  is  categorised  into  one  of  the  four  broad  areas:  food 
safety;  animal  health;  animal  welfare;  or  plant  health.  On  this  basis,  70%  of  the 
inspection objectives in 2007 concerned food safety. However, following the “farm 
to fork” approach, many food safety inspections also cover some animal health and 

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For  example,  decisions  taken  in  accordance  with  Article  53  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  178/2002  of  the 
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  28  January  2002  laying  down  the  general  principles  and 
requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures 
in matters of food safety (OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1–24)  
http://ec.europa.eu/food/fvo/annualreports/index_en.htm 
Candidate  countries  are  those  countries  which  are  candidates  for  future  membership  of  the  EU  but 
which have not yet started the formal process for accession. 
Of  the 81  inspections  carried  out  in  third  countries  in  2007,  Brazil  received  the  most  inspections (7), 
followed by Argentina, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Switzerland (3 each). In contrast, in 2006 the most 
frequently  inspected  third  countries  were  China  (5  inspections)  followed  by  Brazil  (4),  Norway  (3), 
Thailand (3). 

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welfare elements. A full list of all the countries inspected in 2007 and the subjects of 
those inspections is presented in Annex 2 of the 2007 report.  

For  the  most  part,  the  findings  and  recommendations  following  on  from  the 
inspections and audits carried out in 2007 were of such a nature that they were dealt 
with through the follow up process described above. No such audit or inspection in 
the  Member  States  identified  any  immediate  threat  to  consumer,  animal  or  plant 
health,  such  that  the  Commission  had  to  take  emergency,  or  safeguard,  measures. 
However, as day-to-day implementation of relevant legislation is in the hands of the 
Competent  Authorities  of  Member  States  corrective  measures  are  overwhelmingly 
taken  at  their  level.  Four  inspections  focused  on  following  up  on  more  serious 
deficiencies in controls related to ongoing infringement proceedings against Member 
States. 

The  details  of  the  findings  and  actions  for  2007  can  be  found  in  the  report  itself, 
which can be downloaded from the Europa website9  

Finally in 2007, the FVO initiated a series of "general audits" as foreseen in Art. 45 
of  the  Official  Feed  and  Food  Controls  Regulation.  This  series,  which  covers  all 
Member  States,  will  be  completed  in  2011.  The  purpose  of  the  general  audits  is  to 
verify  that,  overall,  official  controls  take  place  in  accordance  with  EU  legislation, 
and with the multi-annual national control plans (MANCP)10. With the completion of 
this  series,  the  Commission  will  have  obtained  a  broad  overview  of  the  overall 
application of official controls in the Member States. 

4. 

Other sources of information on controls in the Member States 

Other means are also used to provide the Commission with information and data on 
the functioning of national control systems in the Member States. 

Sector-specific reporting 

Over  the  years  as  the  body  of  EU  legislation  on  food  safety,  animal  health  and 
welfare and plant health has expanded, the requirements on Member States to submit 
regular  reports  on  the  implementation  of  this  legislation  has  increased  accordingly. 
These  reports  provide  extensive,  sometimes  detailed  information  on  how  different 
control  systems  operate  in  the  Member  States  and  on  the  results  of  these  controls. 
They also provide information that is useful to the Commission when evaluating the 
impact  of  existing  legislation  or  when  considering  whether  and  how  it  should  be 
updated or modified.  

The  generation  of  the  underlying  data  and  preparation  of  the  reports,  with  diverse 
formats  and  reporting  frequencies  across  sectors,  places  an  important  burden  on 
national  authorities  in  the  Member  States.  The  Commission  is  also  required  to 
commit substantial resources to their translation and analysis.  

On the basis of these national reports, the Commission in turn produces and makes 
available  a  number  of  sectoral  reports,  which  provide  an  account  of  the  state  of 
implementation  of  certain  aspects  of  EU  legislation  applicable  to  the  food  chain, 

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10 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/fvo/annualreports/ann_rep_2007_en.pdf 
The  scope  broadly  covers  other  food  law  related  aspects  such  as  food  labelling,  organic  food,  food 
protected by geographic indications etc.. 

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including in some cases specific data on official controls and of results thereof in the 
areas concerned.  

Among the most relevant such reports, are the reports on: the monitoring and testing 
of ruminants for the presence of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSEs), 
the  summary  report  on  trends  and  sources  of  zoonoses,  zoonotic  agents  and  food-
borne  outbreaks  in  the  European  Union  (mandated  to  the  European  Food  Safety 
Authority (EFSA) ), and the annual EU-wide pesticide residues monitoring report. 

A list of published reports is included in the Annex to this Report. 

Reporting  at 
Healthmeetings 

the  Standing  Committee  of 

the  Food  Chain  and  Animal 

Reports on the operation of controls are also presented by Member States regularly at 
meetings  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Food  Chain  and  Animal  Health 
(SCFCAH). These can be either routine reports on the incidence and control of food 
borne  illness,  animal  diseases  or  plant  diseases;  or  they  can  be  related  to  recent 
outbreaks  and  emergency  actions  taken  in  response.  They  represent  another 
important  source  of  information  for  the  Commission  to  assess  how  controls  are 
operating  in  the  Member  States.  In  recent  years,  the  Commission  has  adopted  the 
practice  of  publishing  these  presentations  on  the  Commission’s  website  along  with 
the minutes of the respective meetings. 

Also,  in  some  areas  the  Commission  prepares  a  compilation  of  such  reports  as 
received from the Member States and makes them available through the proceedings 
of the Standing Committee11  

Rapid alert systems and other reporting tools  

The  existing  rapid  alert  systems  for  food  and  feed  safety  (RASFF),  animal  disease 
outbreaks (ADNS) and plant disease outbreaks (Europhyt) represent important tools 
for managing the rapid response to emergencies and emerging risks and a source of 
information  on  the  pattern  of  hazards  and  diseases  as  they  develop  along  the  food 
chain.  The  data  they  provide  can  be  an  important  indicator  of  compliance 
shortcomings in relation to established safety standards. Detailed results from these 
food  safety  and  animal  disease  alert  systems  are  summarised  each  year  in  annual 
reports on RASFF12 and ADNS13 which are published on the Commission's web site. 
The  Commission  intends  to  produce  from  2010  a  similar  annual  report  on  the 
operation of Europhyt, the notification tool for plant disease outbreaks. TRACES, the 
system which allows the exchange of information between the Commission and the 
Member States on controls carried out on animals and animal products (on domestic 
produce  and  imports  from  third  countries)  is  another  important  source  of  data,  not 
only  on  volume  of  movements  of  the  commodities  covered,  but  also  on  official 
veterinary controls carried out.  

5. 

Conclusion 

The Commission forms its assessment of the effectiveness of control systems in the 
Member  States  based  on  information  and  data  it  receives  from  the  Member  States 

11 
12 
13 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/committees/regulatory/index_en.htm 
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/rapidalert/rasff_publications_en.htm 
http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/diseases/adns/index_en.htm 

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through  all  the  channels  outlined  above.  The  Commission  considers  that,  on  the 
whole, the weaknesses in controls identified, through FVO inspections or individual 
complaints in particular, are adequately addressed by the Member States. Where this 
is not the case, the Commission has taken all the measures at its disposal to enforce 
the  requirements  of  EU  legislation,  up  to  and  including  the  taking  of  infringement 
actions when necessary. A summary of the complaints received and investigated by 
the Commission in the areas of food chain law is summarised in the Commission’s 
annual report on the application of EU legislation14.  

However, this review of the various sources of information the Commission receives 
on  the  operation  of  controls  in  Member  States  indicates  that  there  are  a  number  of 
potential  areas  for  improvement  in  the  compilation,  transmission  and  analysis  of 
information  on  the  implementation  of  food  chain  law,  and  on  official  controls  in 
particular,  where  data  production  and  handling  can  be  simplified,  and  data 
presentation  streamlined  and  made  more  relevant.  The  availability  of  more  easily 
accessible  and  comparable  data  will  in  turn  allow  both  national  authorities  and  the 
Commission to operate more efficiently while at the same time giving full assurance 
to EU citizens that control systems are comprehensive, robust and effective.  

The Commission therefore intends to examine, in close cooperation with the Member 
States,  a  number  of  actions  to  make  more  efficient  and  comprehensive  the  way  in 
which information on controls is collected, analysed and presented at EU level, and 
in particular:  

1. 

2. 

3. 

how  reporting  requirements  currently  imposed  on  Member  States  by  existing 
EU legislation can be simplified and streamlined, including by the elimination 
of  duplications  and  superfluous  information,  and  by  the  use  of  standardised 
the 
templates  for  quantitative  data  which  could  reduce  substantially 
requirements for translation from different official languages;  

how the  considerable  potential for the electronic  transmission and  analysis of 
data  through  the  use  of  the  Internet  can  be  fully  exploited  to  achieve 
simplification  and  standardisation  and  to  reduce  the  burden  of  generating, 
collecting  and  transmitting  controls  related  data,  with  appropriate  input  and 
assistance from Eurostat; 

how the simplification and standardisation of reporting requirements can assist 
the  Member  States  to  deliver  on  the  obligation  laid  down  in  Article  7  of  the 
Food and Feed Controls Regulation, which, requires them to ensure that their 
activities  are  carried  out  with  "a  high  level  of  transparency",  and  more 
specifically  that  the  public  is  given  access  to  information  on  the  control 
activities of the competent authorities and their effectiveness. 

14 

http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/infringements/infringements_annual_report_en.htm 

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LIST OF PUBLISHED COMMISSION SECTORIAL REPORTS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LEGISLATION ON FOOD 
SAFETY, ANIMAL HEALTH,ANIMAL WELFARE AND PLANT HEALTH 

ANNEX 

Report 

Legal basis 

Publication 

the 
Annual  Report  on 
monitoring  and  testing  of 
ruminants  for  the  presence 
spongi-
of 
form 
encephalopathy 
(TSE) in the EU 

transmissible 

Article 6 (4) of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  22  May  2001  laying  down 
rules  for  the  prevention,  control  and  eradication  of  certain 
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/biosafety/tse_bse/
monitoring_annual_reports_en.htm 

The  EU  Summary  Report 
on  trends  and  sources  of 
zoonoses,  zoonotic  agents 
and  food-borne  outbreaks 
in the European Union 

Article  9  (2)  of  Directive  2003/99/EC  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  17  November  2003  on  the 
monitoring  of  zoonoses  and  zoonotic  agents,  amending 
Council Decision 90/424/EEC and repealing Council Directive 
92/117/EEC 

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/zoonos
es100128.htm 

The Rapid Alert System for 
Food  and  Feed  (RASFF) 
annual report 

(Mandated to EFSA, elaborated by EFSA in cooperation with 
ECDC) 

Article  50  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  178/2002  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down 
law, 
the  general  principles  and  requirements  of  food 
establishing  the  European  Food  Safety  Authority  and  laying 
down procedures in matters of food safety 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/rapidalert/rasff_pu
blications_en.htm 

EN 

10 

EN 

 
  
Report 

Legal basis 

Publication 

Annual  EU-wide  Pesticide 
Monitoring 
Residues 
Report 

Article  32  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  396/2005  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  February  2005  on 
maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of 
plant  and  animal  origin  and  amending  Council  Directive 
91/414/EEC 

(Mandated to EFSA) 

Annual  report  on 
irradiation 

food 

Article  7(3)  of  Directive  1999/2/EC  of 
the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  22  February  1999  on  the 
approximation  of  the  laws  of  the  Member  States  concerning 
foods and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation 

Commission  Staff  Working 
the 
Paper 
on 
of 
Implementation 
Residue 
National 
Monitoring  Plans  in  the 
Member States 

Article  8  of  Council  Directive  96/23/EC  of  29  April  1996  on 
measures to monitor certain substances and residues thereof in 
live  animals  and  animal  products  and  repealing  Directives 
85/358/EEC  and  86/469/EEC  and  Decisions  89/187/EEC  and 
91/664/EEC 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/fvo/specialreports/pestic
ides_index_en.htm 

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/doc/EFSA
_2007_Annual_Report_Pesticide%20Residue_e
n.pdf 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/biosafety/irradiatio
n/index_en.htm // 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/chemicalsafety/res
idues/control_en.htm 

EN 

11 

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Report 

Legal basis 

Publication 

Article 9 of Council Directive 89/398/EEC of 3 May 1989 on 
the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to 
foodstuffs intended for particular nutritional uses 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/
nutritional/foodstuff_particular_nutri_uses_en.ht
m 

to 

on 

from 

Council 

the 
Report 
the 
Commission 
European  Parliament  and 
The  Council 
the 
implementation  of  article  9 
Directive 
of 
89/398/EEC 
the 
approximation  of  the  laws 
the  Member  States 
of 
to 
foodstuffs 
relating 
intended 
particular 
for 
nutritional uses 

on 

Article  19.1  (d)  of  Commission  Decision  2006/875/EC  and 
article  9.1 
(d)  of  Commission  Decision  2006/876/EC 
approving  programmes  for  the  eradication  and  monitoring  of 
animal  diseases  of  certain  TSEs  and  for  the  prevention  of 
zoonoses presented by the Member States and by Bulgaria and 
Romania for the year 2007. 

For poultry: 
http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/diseases/control
measures/avian/res_surv_wb_annual_07_en.pdf 

For wild birds: 
http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/diseases/control
measures/avian/res_ai_surv_wildbirds_2007_en.
pdf 

of 

Commission  summary  of 
quarterly  reports  submitted 
by  Member  States  on  the 
the 
implementation 
avian influenza programme 
in  poultry  and  wild  birds, 
including  all  positive  and 
negative  results  of  both 
serological  and  virological 
investigations 
laboratory 
during 
obtained 
surveillance 

EN 

12 

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Report 

Legal basis 

Publication 

the 
report  on 
Annual 
the 
of 
results 
the 
of 
implementation 
avian 
influenza 
surveillance  programme  in 
poultry and wild birds. 

Article  19.1  (f)  of  Commission  Decision  2006/875/EC  and 
article 9.1 (f) of Commission Decision 2006/876/EC approving 
programmes  for  the  eradication  and  monitoring  of  animal 
diseases  of  certain  TSEs  and  for  the  prevention  of  zoonoses 
presented by the Member States and by Bulgaria and Romania 
for the year 2007. 

For poultry: 
http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/diseases/control
measures/avian/res_surv_wb_annual_07_en.pdf 

For wild birds: 
http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/diseases/control
measures/avian/res_ai_surv_wildbirds_2007_en.
pdf 

The  Task  Force  was  created  in  2000  as  an  action  foreseen  in 
the Commission White Paper on Food Safety.  

http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/diseases/eradicat
ion/taskforce_en.htm 

results 

(Summary 
of  Member 
States  annual  reporting  of 
for 
surveillance 
avian  influenza  in  poultry 
and  wild  bird,  prepared  by 
the  Commission  and  the 
EU  reference  Laboratory 
for Avian influenza.) 

experts 

Reports  of  the  meetings  of 
sub-groups 
the 
(Bovine 
brucellosis, 
sheep&  goats  brucellosis, 
tuberculosis  and 
bovine 
rabies)  of  the  Task  Force 
(TF) for monitoring disease 
eradication  in  the  Member 
States. 

EN 

13 

EN 

 
  
Report 

Legal basis 

Publication 

Art.  7  (1)  of  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No.  206/2009/EC 
(repealing  Art.  5  (1)  of  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No. 
745/2004)  on  the  introduction  into  the  EU  of  personal 
consignments of products of animal origin 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/animalproducts/
personal_imports/sum_personal_imports_2005_
2007_final.pdf 

for 

summary 

Annual 
of 
submissions  from  Member 
States  concerning  imports 
of  products  of  animal 
origin 
personal 
consumption,  summarising 
the relevant information on 
the  measures 
to 
advertise  and  enforce  the 
the 
in 
laid  down 
rules 
Regulation,  and  on 
the 
results thereof 

taken 

Animal  welfare:  transport 
Regulation 

Article 27(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/welfare/transpor
t/inspections_reports_reg_1_2005_en.htm 

EN 

14 

EN