An analysis by the European Commission has found that national authorities are largely doing enough to ensure companies comply with the rules, but there are also areas for improvement.
A report contains data submitted by European countries on their official controls and related activities to the European Commission in 2022.
In 2022, 16.4 million businesses were under the scope of official controls and national authorities carried out around 5 million controls on them. These checks revealed 1.2 million cases of non-compliance, leading to more than 476,000 administrative fines and 12,100 legal actions.
More than 1 million checks have been carried out at both food service and food wholesale level. Non-compliances were mainly found in food service and animal transport. Sanctions were mainly applied in food service and food wholesale.
Non-compliance and fines for microbiological criteria were highest in the fresh meat and meat products sectors. In terms of pesticide residue problems, fruits and vegetables were the most important category. For food irradiation, 85 cases of non-compliance were identified, leading to 63 administrative fines and one case of legal action.
Reasons for non-compliance include ignorance of the law by companies and, in some cases, intentional misconduct. Issues cited include issues with food hygiene, adherence to documented procedures, self-monitoring systems and labelling.
Factors affecting controls
National authorities have provided only limited information on controls targeting fraudulent and deceptive practices. Examples included controls on honey, olive oil, use of expired ingredients, forged animal passports and illegal domestic slaughter.
The European Commission has highlighted good practices, such as Latvia having an indicator of civil servant performance; Belgian authorities define barometers based on the results of official controls; and the Danish authorities use the number of foodborne illness cases caused by Salmonella and the number of recalls.
Several EU countries said the number of checks increased compared to previous years after the lifting of measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Others continued to report negative effects of such measures on their ability to fully implement planned checks.
Other factors that had a negative impact on inspection programs included insufficient resources (staff, finance and equipment), animal health (e.g. African swine fever and bird flu) and plant health issues, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.
Hungarian authorities reported on the positive impact of a more advisory approach, in addition to enforcement measures. In Belgium, companies certified according to the nationally validated self-check guides are eligible for lower reimbursements and a lower frequency of official controls.
In terms of resources, the Czech Republic reported a lack of funding for laboratory diagnostics towards the end of the year, resulting in limited sampling and testing. Bulgaria reported a downward trend in the number of civil servants, combined with an increase in the number of companies.
Supervision by the European Commission
The European Commission carried out 120 checks on EU countries’ official control systems in 2022. Sixteen related to food of animal origin and five to food of non-animal origin. This resulted in 363 recommendations to countries, of which 77 related to food of animal origin and 11 to food of non-animal origin.
Audits in the fishing sector have revealed problems in the registration of small fishing vessels, controls of landing sites and related activities and a lack of controls on vessels landing in other EU countries. There were also concerns that the use of alternative histamine methods could undermine the reliability or validity of test results. Authorities often had problems meeting planned inspection frequencies.
Audits in the meat sector have revealed shortcomings in the training and supervision of official veterinarians and in the effectiveness of controls in low-throughput slaughterhouses. Common deficiencies in the dairy sector included enforcement of operator procedures for testing raw milk and verifying heat treatment.
Audits of microbiological risks in primary production confirmed improvements compared to previous visits. However, the sprouting companies were still not adequately monitored. The registration of primary producers should be improved so that they can appropriately assess risks and be included in the control system.
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