Final Report of Amission Carried out in Germany from 28 June to 2 July
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION HEALTH & CONSUMER PROTECTION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL Directorate F - Food and Veterinary Office DG (SANCO)/7068/2004– MR final FINAL REPORT OF A MISSION CARRIED OUT IN GERMANY FROM 28 JUNE TO 2 JULY 2004 IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE CONTROL MEASURES IN PLACE FOR IMPORT CONTROLS ON PRODUCTS OF PLANT ORIGIN, AND IN PARTICULAR FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF MYCOTOXIN, 3-MCPD CONTAMINATION, PESTICIDE RESIDUES, SUDAN I-IV AND FOR THE MONITORING OF IRRADIATED FOODSTUFFS AND TO MONITOR COMPLIANCE WITH COMMISSION DECISIONS IMPOSING SPECIAL CONDITIONS ON THE IMPORT OF CERTAIN PRODUCTS CONCERNING AFLATOXINS AND CONCERNING THE PRESENCE OF SUDAN I-IV IN CERTAIN PRODUCTS AND TO FOLLOW UP ON MISSION SANCO/8592/2002 Please note that factual errors in the draft report, identified by the German Authorities, have been corrected in the text of this final report. Clarifications, provided by the German Authorities, are given as footnotes, in italics, to the relevant part of this final report. 17/01/05 - 43261 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................6 2. OBJECTIVES OF THE MISSION .............................................................................6 3. LEGAL BASIS AND SCOPE FOR THE MISSION .................................................7 4. BACKGROUND.........................................................................................................7 4.1. Overview of previous missions regarding import controls. ..............................7 4.2. Background to present mission .........................................................................7 4.3. Public health information ..................................................................................8 5. MAIN FINDINGS.......................................................................................................8 5.1. General Observation..........................................................................................8 5.2. Legislation .........................................................................................................9 5.3. Competent Authorities in charge of the import control system ........................9 5.3.1. Central Competent Authorities............................................................9 5.3.2. The Länder Authorities......................................................................10 5.3.3. Other Authorities...............................................................................11 5.4. Import Procedures...........................................................................................11 5.5. Mycotoxins......................................................................................................11 5.5.1. Sampling and Import Procedures ......................................................11 5.5.2. Laboratory Performance....................................................................13 5.5.3. Control at visited premises ................................................................14 5.6. 3-MCPD ..........................................................................................................14 5.7. Sudan dyes.......................................................................................................14 5.8. Pesticide residues controls...............................................................................15 5.9. Irradiated foodstuffs........................................................................................15 5.10. Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed ...........................................................15 5.11. Follow-up of action plan activities in response to mission report SANCO 8592/2002 .........................................................................................16 6. CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................................19 6.1. Legislation .......................................................................................................19 6.2. Competent Authorities in charge of the import control system ......................20 6.3. Import Control Procedures ..............................................................................20 6.4. Mycotoxins......................................................................................................20 6.4.1. Sampling and Import Procedures ......................................................20 6.4.2. Laboratory Performance....................................................................20 6.4.3. Action in the event of non-compliance .............................................20 2 6.4.4. Control at visited premises ................................................................21 6.5. 3-MCPD ..........................................................................................................21 6.6. Sudan dyes.......................................................................................................21 6.7. Pesticide residues controls...............................................................................21 6.8. Irradiated foodstuffs........................................................................................21 6.9. RASFF Communications.................................................................................21 6.10. Follow-up of report SANCO/8592/2002.........................................................21 7. CLOSING MEETING...............................................................................................22 8. RECOMMENDATIONS ..........................................................................................22 8.1. To the Competent Authorities of Germany.....................................................22 9. ADDENDUM............................................................................................................23 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The mission was carried out as part of a series of missions to major importing Member States to assess controls at import of products of plant origin and compliance with certain Commission Decisions. This was a follow-up mission to mission SANCO/8592/2002 due to the significance of the findings and recommendations on that mission. The mission team visited the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance, two Länder, an official and a private control laboratory, a wholesaler importing spices and one office at the port (Bremenhaven). Representatives of the customs authorities were visited at the two Länder. The structure and responsibilities of official food safety services have changed since the last FVO mission SANCO/8592/2002 at Federal level. Currently the competent authorities at Federal level are the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture (BMVEL), the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). At Länder level, the 16 Länder have the responsibility for the implementation of official control requirements in respect of foodstuffs. In Germany, legal requirements for taking the sample for defence purposes are not as precisely defined as in Commission Directive 98/53/EC, and interpretation of the relevant German law differs in the two visited Länder. Sampling frequencies established in the relevant Commission Decisions are mostly met. In Bremen, the sampling procedure was not in compliance with the requirements set out in Commission Directive 98/53/EC. Files kept in Bremen were insufficient to document adequate official controls and lacked documents as required in the relevant Commission Decisions (Annex I). Regarding actions taken in response to the report of the mission SANCO/8592/2002 by the German authorities, while most of the recommendations have been satisfactorily addressed, controls at import point remain restricted to a very limited number of commodities and risks. Regarding the notifications to the RASFF network, while improvements in the effectiveness of transmissions have been achieved, omissions in transmission were noted, in particular for certain goods analysed in private laboratories. The report provides a number of recommendations to the German authorities to address the noted deficiencies. 4 Abbreviations and Special Terms Used in the Report BfR Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) BMVEL Bundesministerium für Verbraucherschutz, Ernährung und Landwirtschaft (Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture) BVL Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit (Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety) CEN European Committee for Standardization EU European Union FAPAS Food Analysis Performance Assessment Scheme FTE Full Time Equivalent FVO Food and Veterinary Office HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point LMBG Lebensmittel- and Bedarfsgegenständegesetz (Foodstuffs and Commodities Act) LMTVet Lebensmittelüberwachungs-, Tierschutz- and Veterinärdienst des Landes Bremen (Food Control, Animal Protection and Veterinary Service of the Land of Bremen) LUA Landesuntersuchungsamt (State Laboratory for Chemistry, Hygiene and Veterinary Medicine) OTA Ochratoxin A RASFF Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed SOP Standard Operating Procedure TARIC Tariff Intégré de la Communauté (Integrated tariff of the Community) TEU Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit, or one small container, the shipping industry's standard unit of measurement