that while the sampling plan indicated numbers of import shipments to be sampled over the course of the entire year, the FVA reform (the effective use of the sampling plan) only became operational on July 1 2014, hence sampling activity in the first half of 2014 was conducted in an environment where the risk management process was not active yet. The dramatic under-sampling observed in 2015 can be explained by the funding dispute with the public laboratories.

**Table 1. Number of import shipments sampled: planned and actual in 2014 and 2015 and adherence to plan** **<u>Panel A. By product group</u>**

|Product Group|Planned number<br>of import<br>shipments<br>sampled<br>2014|Actual number<br>of import<br>shipments<br>sampled<br>2014|Adherence to<br>plan (actual/<br>planned)<br>2014|Planned number<br>of import<br>shipments<br>sampled<br>2015|Actual number<br>of import<br>shipments<br>sampled<br>2015|Adherence to<br>plan (actual/<br>planned)<br>2015|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Milk and milk products|48|1072|22.33|31|6|0.19|
|Fish, fresh, frozen, and canned|55|356|6.47|42|20|0.48|
|Poultry meat, fresh or frozen|130|189|1.45|83|38|0.46|
|Meat products (not canned)|15|64|4.27|14|5|0.36|
|Pet food|9|46|5.11|1072|0|0.00|
|Compound feed|18|34|1.89|20|0|0.00|
|Pork meat, fresh or frozen|10|29|2.90|10|0|0.00|
|Bovine meat, fresh, chilled or frozen|45|23|0.51|28|0|0.00|
|Honey|23|21|0.91|38|0|0.00|
|Molluscs and crustaceans|220|11|0.05|224|0|0.00|
|Offal|5|7|1.40|18|0|0.00|
|Products from fish and crustaceans|20|1|0.05|9|0|0.00|
|_Total_|_598_|_1853_|_3.10_|_1589_|_69_|_0.04_|

**<u>Panel B. By country or group of countries</u>**

|Sampling Rule|Planned number<br>of import<br>shipments<br>sampled|Actual number<br>of import<br>shipments<br>sampled|Adherence to<br>plan (actual/<br>planned)|Planned number<br>of import<br>shipments<br>sampled|Actual number<br>of import<br>shipments<br>sampled|Adherence to<br>plan (actual/<br>planned)|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||2014|2014|2014|2015|2015|2015|
|All countries|389|1021|2.62|1450|37|0.03|
|EU & EFTA|36|503|13.96|23|0|0.00|
|Asia & Africa|25|131|5.24|4|9|2.25|
|CEFTA|40|119|2.96|12|2|0.17|
|North America|55|41|0.75|14|3|0.21|
|Brazil|20|20|1.00|4|0|0.00|
|All excluding EU & CEFTA|25|19|0.76|.|.|.|
|Switzerland|0|0||.|.|.|
|Baltic countries|5|0|0.00|3|0|0.00|
|All excluding EU & CEFTA & EFTA|3|0|0.00|.|.|.|
|All excluding Brazil||||24|0|0.00|
|All excluding North America & South<br>America||||40|16|0.40|
|_Total_|_598_|_1853_|_3.10_|_15_|_2_|_0.13_|

Notes: in both panels the table shows information based on sampling plans (1<sup>st</sup> , 3<sup>rd</sup> , 4<sup>th</sup> , and 6<sup>th</sup> columns), FVA lab sample data set (2<sup>nd</sup> , 3<sup>rd</sup> , 5<sup>th</sup> , and 6<sup>th</sup> columns), and EXIM data set (1<sup>st</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> columns when all shipments are to be sampled). The data sets are combined based on the broad product group. The sample covers food of animal origin and animal feeds imported under licenses I047 and N853. The actual number of shipments sampled is overestimated in this table as the sampling plan includes for a specific product group regions or groups of countries that overlap. Therefore, samples taken from a specific region may be counted twice. This is mainly because for a given product group, different hazards are tested for different groups of countries.

As described in Section III, the sampling plan establishes the number of samples to be taken based on the country or group of countries, the product and the hazard. Panel B of Table 1 shows that according to the sampling plan North America is the group of countries from which more import shipments would be 24