According to a report by the EU’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) published on Friday 8 September, official controls on animals and goods entering the EU are not always carried out in accordance with EU rules.
In addition, according to EU experts, there is a long-standing shortcoming concerning checks on consignments of goods of animal origin in transit. Similarly, as far as goods of non-animal origin are concerned, there are still systematic shortcomings in the implementation of these controls, according to the report. In particular, they concern the performance of documentary checks, the places where these checks are carried out and the frequency of identity and physical checks.
In addition, the ineffectiveness of the internal audit and control verification system has contributed to the situation where the inspection centres and control points visited by the audit team do not comply with the minimum requirements. The FVO deplores that overall, these problems compromise the competent authority's ability to provide assurance that animals and goods entering the EU through Dutch control posts are handled, treated and stored appropriately, and that only animals and goods of animal and non-animal origin that comply with EU rules enter the EU.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/8hb (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)