Today, the European Commission published its 2023 report on the Alert and Cooperation Network, which facilitates cooperation and information exchange between Member States on official controls in the agri-food chain. The report reveals a significant increase in notifications compared to 2022 – a sign of the growth in cooperation between Member States in this area.
The Alert and Cooperation Network is composed of four sub-networks, each with an individual focus.
The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) facilitates the rapid exchange information between food safety authorities on health risks related to food, feed or food contact materials. In 2023, there was an 8% rise in RASFF notifications, with a total of 4695 notifications. As in previous years, the most reported issue in RASFF concerned pesticide residues, followed closely by pathogenic micro-organisms. The top notifying countries continued to be Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
The Administrative Assistance and Cooperation component (AAC) allows Member States to notify violations of EU food safety legislation which do not constitute a health risk. In 2023, there was a 24% increase in AAC notifications, with 3166 notifications.
The majority of AAC notifications in 2023 were linked to non-compliant fruits and vegetables, again mainly due to pesticide residues, followed by cases of mislabelling, such as unauthorised health claims for food supplements.
The Agri-Food Fraud Network (FFN) registered a 26% rise in notifications, with 758 fraud suspicions. The illegal trade of cats and dogs remained a major issue, with 414 notifications. Other suspicions related to meat substitution, honey adulteration, and mislabelled olive oil. Additionally, 1075 AAC notifications and 1625 RASFF notifications were flagged as potential fraud, prompting deeper inspections or investigations by Member States.
In its first operational year, the Plant Health Network (PHN) generated 128 notifications, as Member States shared details about non-compliant consignments of plants, plant products, and other items (such as seeds, fruits, vegetables, wood, and flowers) and other plant health concerns.
The full 2023 ACN annual report can be found here
