Brussels, 22/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - In conclusions adopted on 19 December, the Agriculture Council says that food, feed, animals and plants imported into the EU from third countries “must be just as safe as Community products”. The text notes that effective control systems in member states are “a key element”, and that it is important to ensure effective sanitary and phytosanitary (health and plant health) controls at agreed points of entry to the Community at the EU's external borders or at places of destination.
The Council welcomed Commission initiatives designed to improve the Community system of import controls (revision of Community legislation on the organisation of veterinary checks on products of animal origin and live animals brought into the Community, plans to tighten up health checks on imports of certain foodstuffs of plant origin, the increasing number of inspections concerning health and plant health safety of imports, the developments of software and harmonised databases).
With regard to the analysis of import-related health ands plant health risks, the Council says it is important to: - base import controls on a risk analysis covering the entire import cycle; - with the support of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) build up scientific methodologies for risk assessments; - define the levels of health and plant health protections judged appropriate in the EU, and to ensure that third countries are made aware of them.
On harmonisation of procedures and coordination between inspection services, the Council says it is important: - to continue to ensure that import control procedures are commonly accepted and are effective and to encourage Community-level cooperation between the various points of entry into the EU to ensure equivalent levels of protection on imported food, feed, animals and plants no matter where they enter the EU; - to continue to improve information technology systems and make procedures secure.
With regard to information, the Council stresses the importance of: - ensuring appropriate traceability throughout the whole food chain within the EU, including for imported food, feed, animals and plants, as an essential component of risk management; - having operational warning systems linking member states and the Commission, allowing them to react and to communicate swiftly in the event of health threats entering the EU; - drawing international travellers' attention to the health risks of bringing in food, feeds animals or plants from third countries, by regularly organising information campaigns in member states.
The Council invites the Commission: - to actively pursue the ongoing regulatory initiatives to improve import controls; - to submit, to the Council and Parliament by the end of 2010, a report on the effectiveness and consistency of sanitary and phytosanitary controls on imports of food, feed, animals and plants, with a view to continuing a well-functioning Community framework on imports, with proposals, if appropriate; - to continue to promote European standards and regulatory criteria within international standardisation in the fields of animal health, plant health and food safety, and in negotiations for bilateral agreements with third countries; - to strengthen policy on international cooperation with exporting third countries, and, together with member states, to continue to support capacity building in third countries and other initiatives such as “better training for safer food” in order to make it easier for them to met European standards, and to support the establishment of sanitary and phytosanitary surveillance networks for improving knowledge of epidemiological situations, taking account of existing structures; - to explore the impact of any differences in standards between EU producers and key international trading partners actually have on Community trade, and to analyse, as a basis for further discussion, how international and bilateral trade rules can better interact with EU societal concerns and legitimate factors. (L.C./transl.rt)