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Official Control Of Foodstuffs

Official Control of Foodstuffs

Official controls are carried out by competent authorities

  • Official controls - what are they?

    Official controls are carried out by competent authorities to:

    • ensure the safety and integrity of all food, food products and ingredients at each stage of the agri-food chain
    • verify that all involved in the agri-food chain are complying with legislation requirements and hygiene standards

    Official controls include audits, inspections, sampling and analysis of food establishments, foods and goods.

    Member States are required to organise official controls in a way that ensures efficient and effective coordination of all competent authorities involved in performing official controls and other official activities.

    The Irish competent authorities that are responsible for official controls on food include:

    • The Food Safety Authority of Ireland - competent authority with overall responsibility for the enforcement of food legislation in Ireland
    • The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
    • The Health Service Executive
    • Local authorities
    • Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority
    • The Marine Institute
    • The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI)
    • The State Laboratory

  • Official control rules

    The rules on how official controls are carried out in Member States are set out in Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products

    Regulation (EU) 2017/625:

    • provides the legal basis for how food legislation is enforced to protect the consumer
    • extends the official controls framework to the whole agri-food chain including food and feed law, animal health and welfare, plant health and animal-by products rules
    • introduces a harmonised and coherent approach to official controls and relevant enforcement actions along the entire agri-food chain
    • strengthens official control checks to help fight fraudulent and deceptive practices
    • includes requirements for dealing with newly identified risks in relation to food and feed
    • includes the legal basis for the European Commission to introduce additional rules that supplement Reg (EU) 2017/625 in certain areas.

  • Areas covered by the rules

    The Regulation provides the requirements for official controls and other official activities on:

    • food and food safety, integrity and wholesomeness
    • feed and feed safety
    • animal health
    • animal welfare requirements
    • animal by products
    • plant health
    • plant protection products
    • genetically modified organisms
    • organic production and labelling of organic products and
    • protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed.

    The legislation requires that official controls and other official activities are risk based, transparent, effective and efficient. As well as verifying compliance with legislative requirements when conducting official controls and other official activities competent authorities verify food safety and authenticity.

    The Regulation provides the rules for:

    • how official controls and other official activities are performed
    • obligations for Food Business Operators
    • delegation of certain official control tasks by the competent authority
    • sampling, analysis and testing for samples taken during official controls and other official activities
    • official controls on animals and goods entering the Union
    • financing of official controls and other official activities
    • official certification
    • reference labs and reference centres including national reference laboratories
    • administrative assistance and cooperation
    • planning and reporting including the multi-annual national control plan (MANCP) and annual reports
    • Commission controls in Members States and third countries
    • training of staff of the competent authorities and other authorities
    • Information Management System for Official Controls (IMSOC)
    • enforcement action in the event of non-compliance

    Extra Requirements for Certain Areas

  • Official controls and other official activities

    Regulation (EU) 2017/625 defines official controls and other official activities as follows:

    Official controls

    These are activities performed by the competent authorities, or by the delegated bodies or the natural persons to which certain official control tasks have been delegated in accordance with this Regulation, in order to verify:

    1.    compliance by the operators with this Regulation and with the rules referred to in Article 1(2); and
    2.    that animals or goods meet the requirements laid down in the rules referred to in Article 1(2), including for the issuance of an official certificate or official attestation.

    Other official activities

    These are activities, other than official controls, which are performed by the competent authorities, or by the delegated bodies or the natural persons to which certain other official activities have been delegated in accordance with this Regulation, and with the rules referred to in Article 1(2), including activities aimed at verifying the presence of animal diseases or pests of plants, preventing or containing the spread of such animal diseases or pests of plants, eradicating those animal diseases or pests of plants, granting authorisations or approvals, and issuing official certificates or official attestations.

    Difference between official controls and other official activities

    Here is an example of the difference between an official control and other official activities:

    • An inspection activity that takes place to verify that an establishment complies with the legislation is an official control. The administrative aspects of issuing an official certificate based on the inspection outcome is another official activity.

    The significance of this difference between an official control and another official activity is that not all parts of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 apply to other official activities.

  • Food Business Operators

    As a food business operator you may be asked for certain things by an inspector of a Competent Authority (e.g. an environmental health officer or a veterinary inspector) carrying out what are called 'Official Controls'. These official controls, and what is required by a food business, are set out in legislation (Regulation (EU) 2017/625).

    Providing access to staff of the Competent Authority

    When carrying out official controls and/or other official activities, food business operators, where required by the competent authority, must give staff of the competent authority access to:

    • the equipment, means of transport, premises and other places under their control and their surroundings
    • their computerised information management systems
    • animals and goods under their control
    • their documents and any other relevant information

    Assist and cooperate with staff of the competent authority

    During official controls and other official activities food business operators must assist and cooperate with the staff of competent authorities and organic controls authorities.

    Consignments entering the EU

    Food business operators responsible for a consignment entering the EU must also make all information concerning the animals and goods available without delay.

    This information may be in paper or electronic form.

    Providing food business operators details to the competent authority

    Food business operators are required to provide the competent authority with at least the following updated details:

    • their name and legal form
    • the specific activities they carry out, including activities undertaken by means of distance communication (i.e. distance selling, online sales, e-commerce) and the places under their control

    Note: Food law applies to food sold or advertised via the internet and online media platforms therefore e-commerce is subject to official controls. Competent authorities can, for official control purposes, sample products online without identifying themselves (i.e. mystery shopping) and use the products purchased as official control samples.

  • EU legislation

    Regulation (EU) 2017/625 (OJ L 95, 7.4.2017, p. 1–142) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products.

    Amended by:

    Corrected by:

    • Corrigendum to Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products (OJ L 137, 24.5.2017, p. 40)

    Consolidated Version of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 (as at 28 January 2022)
     

  • National legislation

    For food businesses registered and under the official control of the Health Services Executive

    European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations 2020, S.I. No. 79 of 2020

    Amended by:

    • European Union (Official Controls in relation to Food Legislation) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, S.I. No. 9/2024
    • European Union (Official Controls in relation to Food Legislation) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2024, S.I. No. 106/2024

    Under Regulation 12(3) of S.I. No. 79 of 2020, the FSAI is obliged to publish guidelines in relation to the recognition of appropriately qualified experts for the purpose of a documentary review. This short guide is designed to assist a food business in appointing its own recognised and appropriately qualified expert for the purposes of documentary review - Guidelines in Relation to the Recognition of Appropriately Qualified Experts for the Purposes of a Documentary Review under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 (S.I. No. 79 of 2020) - (available as a PDF free to download)

    For food businesses under the official control of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, local authorities and certain establishments under the official control of the Health Service Executive:

    European Union (Food and Feed Hygiene) Regulations 2020, S.I. No. 22 of 2020 

    Amended by:

    • European Union (Food and Feed Hygiene) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, S.I. No. 660/2020 
    • European Union (Food and Feed Hygiene) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, S.I. No. 744/2022

  • Delegated and implementing acts adopted under Regulation (EU) 2017/625

    Regulation (EU) 2017/625 contains 85 empowerments where the Commission can introduce additional legislation to supplement the rules in the regulation. Some of the empowerments are mandatory and the Commission must introduce new legislation to replace existing legislation that is revoked or repealed by Regulation (EU) 2017/625, while some are optional provisions that the Commission may or may not act on. These empowerments are known as “tertiary legislation” and are called either Implementing Acts or Delegated Acts depending on the type of empowerment.

    Links to Implementing and Delegating Acts adopted under Regulation (EU) 2017/625

  • Integrated Multiannual National Control Plan (MANCP)

    Article 109 of Regulation (EU) No. 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities requires each Member State to prepare a single integrated Multi-Annual National Control Plan (MANCP). This plan must contain general information on the structure and organisation of the official controls conducted in all the areas governed by the rules referred to in Article 1(2) and in accordance with the criteria laid down in Article 9 and with the rules provided for in Articles 18 to 27 of Regulation (EU) No. 2017/625 in the Member State concerned. The MANCP should contain information in particular on:

    (a) the strategic objectives of the MANCP and on how the prioritisation of official controls and allocation of resources reflect these objectives.

    (b) the risk categorisation of the official controls.

    (c) the designation of competent authorities and their tasks at central, regional and local level, and on resources available to those authorities.

    (d) where appropriate, the delegation of tasks to delegated bodies.

    (e) the general organisation and management of official controls at national, regional and local level, including official controls in individual establishments.

    (f) control systems applied to different sectors and coordination between the different services of competent authorities responsible for official controls in those sectors.

    (g) procedures and arrangements in place to ensure compliance with the obligations of the competent authorities provided for in Article 5(1).

    (h) the training of staff of the competent authorities.

    (i) the documented procedures provided for in Article 12(1).

    (j) the general organisation and operation of contingency plans in accordance with the rules referred to in Article 1(2) and

    (k) the general organisation of cooperation and mutual assistance between competent authorities in the Member States.

    Ireland developed its first Multi-annual National Control Plan in 2007. The plan was jointly developed by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine. 

    In line with the requirements of Article 111 of Regulation (EU) No. 2017/625 see Ireland's Multi-Annual National Control Plan. The MANCP is regularly reviewed and updated as required. See the MANCP annual reports for Ireland.