Ref. Ares(2021)3606514 - 01/06/2021 TABLE of CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
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Ref. Ares(2021)3606514 - 01/06/2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................3 SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................4 1. ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS OF REGULATION (EC) N° 882/2004 .......................................6 Designation of competent authorities ..........................................................................6 Resources for performance of controls......................................................................25 Organisation and implementation of official controls ...............................................26 Enforcement measures...............................................................................................30 Verification and review of official controls and procedures .....................................31 Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP).........................................................39 2. COMPETENT AUTHORITIES AND DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO INDIVIDUAL CONTROL SYSTEMS .................................................................................................................42 2.1 Control system for animal health.....................................................................42 2.2 Control system for food of animal origin ........................................................45 2.3 Control system for imports of animals and food of animal origin...................49 2.4 Control system for feedingstuffs and animal nutrition ....................................51 2.5 Control system for TSEs and Animal-By-Products (ABP) .............................55 2.6 Control system for veterinary medicinal products (VMP) and residues..........63 2.7 Control system for foodstuffs and general food hygiene.................................69 2.8 Control system for imports of food of non-animal origin................................76 2.9 Control system for plant protection products (PPPs) and residues..................78 2.10 Control system for animal welfare...................................................................82 2.11 Control system for plant health........................................................................84 2.12 Control system for quality labelling ................................................................87 ANNEX- ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS AND SPECIAL TERMS .........................90 2 DG(SANTE)/2020-6907 Version: May 2021 INTRODUCTION This overview has been drawn up by the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission, based on information supplied by Belgium. The aim is to present, in summary form, the latest information on how control systems for food and feed safety, animal health, animal welfare, plant health and quality labelling are organised in Belgium. Chapter 1 describes the overall organisation of the Belgian authorities and the respective responsibilities of the ministries and government agencies in relation to the different components of the control system. A chart is used to help the reader better understand the inter-relationships between the responsibilities of the different bodies. Chapter 2 gives a more detailed description of the main responsibilities for each of the twelve separate systems that form the complete range of control systems in Belgium, covering the whole chain of plant, animal and food production. As in Chapter 1, organisation charts are used to help the reader. The overview was updated following the most recent administrative follow-up initiated in August 2020, based on information provided by the Belgian authorities. Acronyms are used extensively throughout this overview for the sake of brevity. A list of acronyms, abbreviations and special terms is given in the Annex as a guide for the reader. 3 DG(SANTE)/2020-6907 Version: May 2021 SUMMARY The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) and the Federal Public Service for Health, Safety of the Food Chain and Environment (FPS–HSFCE) are the main federal competent authorities in the areas of food and feed safety, animal health and plant health. By virtue of the sixth state reform the competences concerning animal welfare were attributed to the regions as of July 2014. The FPS–HSFCE is responsible for the elaboration of policy and relevant legislation, the elaboration of product standards, and the controls and inspections for certain animal by- products, field trials with GMO’s and pesticides. The FASFC, under the Minister competent for food safety, verifies that all legislation and standards under its competences are respected by all actors within the food chain. It is also responsible for the preparation of process standards. The distribution of competencies between the FPS–HSFCE and the FASFC is laid down in a protocol. The FASFC Directorate-General Control Policy is responsible for policy on control measures and programmes. The separate Directorate-General Control has central services responsible for co-ordinating and integrating control activities while the controls themselves are carried out by 9 Local Control Units (LCU) of this directorate. The central services of the Directorate-General Laboratories co-ordinates all activities on analyses carried out by the five federal FASFC laboratories under their direction and the external laboratories. Other federal competent authorities involved are the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP), the Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy (FPS Economy), the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC), the Federal Public Service Finances – Customs Services, and the Federal Police. The Regions are responsible for wildlife, several aspects with regard to animal by-products (ABP), Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), plant protection products (PPP), animal welfare, and quality labelling (organic production and PDO/PGI/TSG). They are also the central competent authorities for measures regarding regulated non-quarantine pests (RNQPs): they are responsible for the transposition of EU legislation in relation to control measures, the implementation of legislation, and technical co-ordination of plant health activities related to RNQPs. Currently, the single body of Belgium (Art. 109(2) of the Official Controls Regulation – OCR) has not been designated yet. Meanwhile, the FASFC takes a central and co- ordinating role with regard to the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) and Annual Report, however without taking the responsibilities related to the single body. Until now, the MANCP is prepared by the FASFC, in close cooperation with the other competent authorities involved. As far as the FASFC is concerned, the duration of the MANCP is the same of that of the business plan of the FASFC. This way the strategic and operational objectives of the FASFC are linked to those of the MANCP. The most recent published MANCP for Belgium covers the period 2018-2020. A new MANCP is being prepared. The Annual Report on the implementation of the plan in 2019 was provided to the Commission in August 2020. The MANCPs are published on the following webpage: http://www.favv- afsca.fgov.be/apropos/mancp/. No decision has yet been taken whether or not to make the 4 DG(SANTE)/2020-6907 Version: May 2021 Annual Report in standard model form (Regulation (EU) 2019/723) publicly available. However, data on official controls can be found in the annual activity report of the FASFC and in annual reports of other competent authorities, which are available via: http://www.favv-afsca.fgov.be/apropos/mancp/. 5 DG(SANTE)/2020-6907 Version: May 2021 1. ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS OF REGULATION (EU) 2017/625 Designation of competent authorities Description of the general division of competences in Belgium: The Kingdom of Belgium is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The Constitution was revised six times between 1970 and 2014 (1970, 1980, 1988-89, 1993, 2001 and 2014), creating a federal state on the basis of a three-level structure. The Federal State, the Communities and the Regions form the top level. All three are equal from the legal viewpoint, but have powers and responsibilities for different areas. In general, the Federal State has the competences in all areas of public interest including public health, food and feed safety, animal health and plant health. The three Regions (Flemish Region, Walloon Region, Brussels-Capital Region) have powers in the areas connected with their territory such as employment, agriculture, environment, waste, and since 2014, animal welfare. The three Communities (Flemish, French and German) have powers in areas such as culture, education and use of languages. The Provinces constitute the second level. Each Province is responsible for everything in its territory of provincial interest not covered by the general interest of the Federal State, the Communities and Regions, or by communal interest. The Belgian Provinces are Antwerp, Limburg, Flemish Brabant, East Flanders, West Flanders, Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Namur, Liège and Luxembourg. In the Brussels- Capital Region almost all provincial competencies are assumed by its regional institutions. The 581 Communes form the third level. Depending on the powers exercised, they are supervised by the Federal State, the Community or the Region. The following chart summarises the organisation