The Commission reports on official controls on food and feed, animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products performed in 2022 in EU countries
In a new report, the European Commission shares insights into official controls and audits on food and feed, animal health, and plant protection products carried out in EU countries in 2022. This report highlights the importance of these controls to maintain high levels of health protection and trust in the food chain, from farm to fork. By auditing and controlling that businesses comply with legal requirements, European consumers can be confident that their food is safe, and trade in food, animals, and plants within the EU and with non-EU countries can flow smoothly.
National authorities are responsible for conducting official controls based on risk assessments. If businesses along the food chain do not meet the necessary standards, authorities must take action to bring operators back into compliance.
The report presents this data through standardised and user-friendly, EU-wide graphs, showing the number of active food business entities, official controls performed, non-compliance issues identified, and administrative sanctions and judicial actions taken.
In 2022, around 16.4 million business entities were active in the EU and subject to official controls by national authorities, resulting in over 5 million official controls, the identification of approximately 1.2 million non-compliance issues, and the imposition of 475 thousand administrative sanctions, as well as 12 thousand judicial actions.
The Commission also played a supportive role, helping EU countries improve their official control systems through training and meetings with experts.
The accompanying staff working document provides more detailed information on the controls performed by national authorities and the Commission. The report emphasizes that EU countries have the necessary control systems in place to maintain food and feed safety and a healthy internal market. Commission controls have identified areas for improvement, and verify that national authorities generally take appropriate corrective measures to address shortcomings.
Discover more about official controls in the food chain, annual reports by EU countries and the details of this Commission report by clicking on the link below.
