According to a report published by the European Commission, lack of resources and the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to affect the ability to perform official controls.
The document covers the official documents of EU countries and the activities of the European Commission in 2021.
There were 16. 9 million sites under such controls and the national government carried out five million verifications. Approximately 1 million breaches were identified, resulting in some 500,000 administrative consequences and some 8,000 legal actions.
In 2020, the National Government carried out 4. 1 million official controls, of which 655,000 breaches were known, in 388,000 administrative consequences and 12,700 judicial actions.
Levels of enforcement range from verbal and written warnings to seizure and destruction of property and transience or permanent cancellation of business authorization. Administrative fines are used as a deterrent and formal prosecution is a last resort. through wholesale and retail food products. Some non-conformities were due to companies’ ignorance of the legislation, while others were intentional misconduct.
For microbiological criteria and contaminants in food, the maximum non-compliance and consequences were for new meat. For pesticides, the highest challenge for culmination and vegetables. food and 99 for the use of unauthorized genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food.
In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continued with the ability of the national government and the EU Commission to carry out planned controls and audits. Other negative points in inspection programs come with inadequate resources (personnel, finances and equipment), animal fitness (African pig). fever and avian influenza) and phytosanitary problems, and Brexit.
Denmark has diverted significant human resources to cullate all mink on farms to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to humans. As all sectors have shown an increasing trend towards distance selling, Finland has allocated more resources to similar controls.
Bulgaria reported a reduction in the number of officials involved in official controls; creating a workload for them, adding the desire to work overtime; an accumulation in the number of sites subject to controls; and obsolete technical equipment.
Reporting requirements have been replaced since 2020 and not all EU countries have been able to provide sufficiently detailed information for 2021. Fifteen missed the deadline until two weeks and the most recent report was submitted 3 months late.
The national government provided very limited data on controls of fraudulent and deceptive practices. Examples included controls on the illegal slaughter and sale of undeclared meat and the placement of food on fake social media profiles.
In 2021, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) instances focused on counterfeiting, sparkling wine, whisky and vodka. In one case, 421,000 bottles of counterfeit wine of various brands were seized in the EU and Moldova, and in another, 576 litres of Prosecco were discovered in the EU.
In Lithuania, the State Plant Service gives priority to business advice, assistance and other measures to prevent violations of the law than seeking compliance only through sanctions or fines. fees and reduced frequency of official controls.
The Netherlands reported that the issue of sectors to be controlled was emerging faster than human resources or the capacity of the national authority, however, the Government had allocated additional resources. It also assesses whether the techniques provided to control the pandemic, such as the use of cameras in slaughterhouses, can be maintained and improved.
The European Commission carried out 98 audits on the official systems of EU countries in 2021. Of these, 83 were remote and included videoconferencing. Eight were partially conducted remotely and seven in person. The audits resulted in 407 recommendations.
Audits of ready-to-eat fishery products showed a prior location regarding the legal responsibility to demonstrate that the products meet the food protection criteria applicable to their shelf life.
Audits in the meat sector tested 2019 allegations that cows were slaughtered that were not worthy of slaughter and assessed new legal needs for ante-mortem and autopsy inspections in poultry slaughterhouses. Massacre of the Treasury.
In the dairy sector, weaknesses in non-bovine milk quality systems; training; S tracking; and the qualification and application of nonconformities was found.
Audits on microbiological threats in production number one continued. Improvements have been observed compared to previous visits, but germinating seeds are not yet sufficiently targeted and it is desired to advance the registration of number one manufacturers so that threats can be assessed and included. in the formula at an appropriate frequency.
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