On Tuesday, 31 March, the European Commission published a regulation in the Official Journal of the EU that gives Member States flexibility in the official controls carried out on the agri-food chain (animals, plants, food, and feed) in the context of the coronavirus crisis.
Member States have significantly restricted their populations’ freedom of movement in order to protect human health. These movement restrictions affect the countries’ capacity to deploy the qualified staff needed to perform official controls.
This measure contributes to preventing the disease from being spread through movements of control staff and to facilitating the movement of animals, plants, food, and feed into and within the EU, despite the current circumstances.
Veterinary and phytosanitary controls may exceptionally be performed by specifically designated persons. Specifically designated laboratories may exceptionally be used when official laboratories are not available. For border controls, electronically submitted documents will be accepted in order to complete the controls as long as the person responsible undertakes to provide the original as soon as possible. Physical meetings with operators may be replaced by contact using the means of communication available to them.
The measure is initially limited to 2 months and will be reviewed in the light of the experience gained during its application. Member States that wish to use the measure must inform the Commission and the other Member States. Link to the regulation: https://bit.ly/2wQk16E (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)