Brussels tightens the rules. Intensified controls on imported food are starting

The European Commission announced on Tuesday that controls on food, animal and plant products imported into the EU will be tightened from the new year. Better controls aim to help ensure a high level of food safety for EU citizens.

EU Commissioner for Animal Health and Welfare, Oliver Varhelyi, announced at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday that the changes will come into force from January of the new year. – We still import products worth EUR 160 billion a year to the EU. In January, we will significantly strengthen the level of control, both inside and outside the EU, he said.

The Commissioner said that for this purpose a special task force on import controls will be established, which will aim to strengthen cooperation between Member State authorities and experts to determine how to make controls more effective. As Varhelyi said, over the next two years, and starting from January 1, the EC will increase the number of audits carried out in non-EU countries – the Commission carries out this type of inspections to ensure that food produced outside the EU meets EU safety requirements. (…) We will intensify monitoring of non-compliant goods in these countries and adjust the frequency of our inspections accordingly, the commissioner said.

The number of inspections of European border inspection posts is also to increase by one third to verify whether Member States carry out border inspections in line with EU requirements. As Varhelyi said, the EU must strengthen the level of control especially at its main entry points, i.e. seaports.

The EC also announced that under a special EU program it will train approximately 500 employees of Member State authorities in official controls. The rules on the import of products containing traces of particularly dangerous pesticides, which are banned in the EU, will also be updated.

Commissioner Varhelyi stressed that the enhanced controls are not aimed at Mercosur countries, the United States or any other EU partner, but are aimed at better enforcement of the rules that already exist. Better controls aim to help ensure a high level of food safety for EU citizens and to ensure that EU food producers have a level playing field with those outside the EU. The Commissioner recalled that these measures were discussed, among others, with EU farmers and entrepreneurs.

From Brussels Jowita Kiwnik Pargana (PAP)

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