New Official Controls Regulation: A new horizon for Public Health
Post: Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition
Date: 31 octubre 2017
Section: Seguridad Alimentaria
Teresa Robledo, Executive Director of the Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition (AECOSAN) opened yesterday this Conference held in Madrid, at the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality (MSSSI), and organised with the Foro Interalimentario, with the presence of their Director General, Víctor Yuste.
Teresa Robledo highlighted the “degree of interest in issues relating to official controls of the participants in light of the high expectations created, with more than 300 people enrolled at the conference”.
During her speech, Ms Robledo declared that “guaranteeing food safety at the levels demanded by consumers, requires the absolute commitment of all the sectors. Based on a new concept of food safety, both at community and national level, seeking the support of national and community authorities, and always aiming to reinforce consumer confidence. We are currently addressing major challenges in a context which must respond to the demands of a globalised economy, in addition to the huge changes derived from the social, economic and cultural changes we are experiencing and, finally, which are felt by the consumer”.
Representatives from Consumer associations, the food industry and associations from the different food sectors, competent authorities at all levels, including town councils, autonomous communities and other experts came together at the Ernest Lluch Auditorium.
On 7 April 2017, Regulation (EC) 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products was published.
The scope of application has been extended and will now include plant protection and animal by-products, introducing a more harmonised and coherent approach to official controls and the relevant measures of application along the agri-food chain. It contains a series of Commission authorisations for delegated and implementing acts which will provide the necessary legal resources for adjusting the controls to the requirements of a constantly changing agri-food chain environment.
It includes measures to increase transparency for citizens. It incorporates new areas including the management of fraudulent practices. Moreover, it includes the requirement that the Competent Authorities take into account the likelihood of fraudulent or deceptive practices on deciding the appropriate frequency of the controls.
The new Regulation also strengthens the rules relating to the administrative assistance and cooperation of Member States, to enable competent authorities to take effective and proportionate action to pursue cross-border violations. It also proposed challenges and opportunities regarding its application, mostly expected to take place by 14 December 2019.
Also present at the inaugural address with the Executive Director were the Deputy-Director of Food Alert Coordination and Official Control Programming of AECOSAN, Milagros Nieto together with Ana Canals, Executive Advisor for AECOSAN, both of whom acted as moderators at the discussion panels and Andrea Gavinelli, Head of Unit G3, Official Controls and eradication of diseases in animals, of the European Commission who presented a paper on the application of this new regulation, highlighting the key points of the new Regulation (EC) 2017/625.
Other speakers were from AECOSAN, administrations including the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment; from the Department of Border Health of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality (MSSSI) and from the different Directorate General of Public Health of the Autonomous Communities, as well as from the food industry.
The papers may be downloaded from the conference programme.
