The Commission published today a report which is the result of a project to collect information on potential fraud risks identified by Member State authorities and control methods to detect fraudulent and deceptive practices in the agri-food chain. This report is expected to be used by Member States’ authorities in charge of official controls since it compiles good practice examples and challenges they face with the implementation of fraud related controls. The document was put together through a series of pilot and fact-finding studies of eight Member States between 2020 and 2022. The document presents challenges, opportunities and good practice examples in relation to the implementation of Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625. Member States’ competent authorities are required to not only detect violations of the rules governing the agri-food chain but also to identify possible intentional violations of those rules, perpetrated through fraudulent or deceptive practices by operators for the purpose of gaining an undue advantage. In 2019, it was estimated that, at global level, food fraud could have an impact of 30 billion€ per year.
