Voluntary exchanges on suspected cross-border food fraud increased last year, according to the annual report of the European Food Fraud Network (FFN) and the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation System (AAC-FF), published on 18 May by the European Commission
The number of requests for administrative assistance made by Member States increased to 292 in 2019 (compared to 234 in 2018), confirming the annual trend towards increased cooperation between Member States.
The category 'fats and oils' was in the lead (44), followed by 'fish and fish products' (42), 'meat and meat products other than poultry' (38), 'fruit and vegetables' (28).
Mislabelling was the most common fraud (47% of cases). Next came: - ‘replacement/dilution/addition/removal’ - fraud often linked to the substitution of a product or ingredient by a cheaper one (20%); - ‘processes or treatments prohibited under EU law’ (16%); - ‘absent or falsified documentation’ (15%).
Based on the analysis of the data and its own investigative leads, the Commission has created 70 requests in the system, calling on different countries to investigate and follow up on the requests. It points out that numerous investigations have led to arrests and confiscation of goods banned from the EU market.
Link to the report: https://bit.ly/3dSnJfQ (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)