CHAPTER II: COMPETENT AUTHORITIES

Member States shall designate the competent authorities responsible for the purposes and official controls set out in this Regulation. The competent authorities shall ensure: the effectiveness and appropriateness of official controls on live animals, feed and food at all stages of production, processing and distribution, and on the use of feed; that staff carrying out official controls are free from any conflict of interest; that they have, or have access to, an adequate laboratory capacity for testing and a sufficient number of suitably qualified and experienced staff so that official controls and control duties can be carried out efficiently and effectively; that they have appropriate and properly maintained facilities and equipment to ensure that staff can perform official controls efficiently and effectively; that they have the legal powers to carry out official controls and to take the measures provided for in this Regulation; that they have contingency plans in place, and are prepared to operate such plans in the event of an emergency; that the feed and food business operators are obliged to undergo any inspection carried out in accordance with this Regulation and to assist staff of the competent authority in the accomplishment of their tasks. When a Member State confers the competence to carry out official controls on an authority or authorities other than a central competent authority, in particular those at regional or local level, efficient and effective coordination shall be ensured between all the competent authorities involved, including where appropriate in the field of environmental and health protection. Competent authorities shall ensure the impartiality, quality and consistency of official controls at all levels. The criteria listed in paragraph 2 must be fully respected by every authority on which the competence to carry out official controls is conferred. When, within a competent authority, more than one unit is competent to carry out official controls, efficient and effective coordination and cooperation shall be ensured between the different units. Competent authorities shall carry out internal audits or may have external audits carried out, and shall take appropriate measures in the light of their results, to ensure that they are achieving the objectives of this Regulation. These audits shall be subject to independent scrutiny and shall be carried out in a transparent manner. Detailed rules for the implementation of this Article may be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 62(3). The competent authority may delegate specific tasks related to official controls to one or more control bodies in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 4. A list of tasks that may or may not be delegated may be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 62(3). However, the activities referred to in Article 54 shall not be the subject of such a delegation. The competent authority may delegate specific tasks to a particular control body only if: there is an accurate description of the tasks that the control body may carry out and of the conditions under which it may carry them out; there is proof that the control body: has the expertise, equipment and infrastructure required to carry out the tasks delegated to it, has a sufficient number of suitably qualified and experienced staff, and is impartial and free from any conflict of interest as regards the exercise of the tasks delegated to it; the control body works and is accredited in accordance with European Standard EN 45004 "General criteria for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection" and/or another standard if more relevant to the delegated tasks in question; laboratories operate in accordance with the standards referred to in Article 12(2); the control body communicates the results of the controls carried out to the competent authority on a regular basis and whenever the competent authority so requests. If the results of the controls indicate non-compliance or point to the likelihood of non-compliance, the control body shall immediately inform the competent authority; there is efficient and effective coordination between the delegating competent authority and the control body. Competent authorities delegating specific tasks to control bodies shall organise audits or inspections of control bodies as necessary. If, as a result of an audit or an inspection, it appears that such bodies are failing to carry out properly the tasks delegated to them, the delegating competent authority may withdraw the delegation. It shall withdraw it without delay if the control body fails to take appropriate and timely remedial action. Any Member State wishing to delegate a specific control task to a control body shall notify the Commission. This notification shall provide a detailed description of: the competent authority that would delegate the task; the task that it would delegate; and the control body to which it would delegate the task. The competent authority shall ensure that all of its staff performing official controls: receive, for their area of competence, appropriate training enabling them to undertake their duties competently and to carry out official controls in a consistent manner. This training shall cover as appropriate the areas referred to in Annex II, Chapter I; keep up-to-date in their area of competence and receive regular additional training as necessary; and have aptitude for multidisciplinary cooperation. The competent authorities shall ensure that they carry out their activities with a high level of transparency. For that purpose, relevant information held by them shall be made available to the public as soon as possible. In general, the public shall have access to: information on the control activities of the competent authorities and their effectiveness, and information pursuant to Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. The competent authority shall take steps to ensure that members of their staff are required not to disclose information acquired when undertaking their official control duties which by its nature is covered by professional secrecy in duly justified cases. Protection of professional secrecy shall not prevent the dissemination by the competent authorities of information referred to in paragraph l(b). The rules of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31. Directive as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003. remain unaffected. Information covered by professional secrecy includes in particular: the confidentiality of preliminary investigation proceedings or of current legal proceedings; personal data; the documents covered by an exception in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43. ; information protected by national and Community legislation concerning in particular professional secrecy, the confidentiality of deliberations, international relations and national defence. Competent authorities shall carry out official controls in accordance with documented procedures. These procedures shall contain information and instructions for staff performing official controls including, inter alia, the areas referred to in Annex II, Chapter II. Member States shall ensure that they have legal procedures in place in order to ensure that staff of the competent authorities have access to premises of and documentation kept by feed and food business operators so as to be able to accomplish their tasks properly. Competent authorities shall have procedures in place: to verity the effectiveness of official controls that they carry out; and to ensure that corrective action is taken when needed and that the documentation referred to in paragraph 1 is updated as appropriate. The Commission may establish guidelines for official controls in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 62 (2). The guidelines may, in particular, contain recommendations concerning official controls on: the implementation of HACCP principles; management systems that feed or food business operators operate with a view to meeting the requirements of feed or food law; the microbiological, physical and chemical safety of feed and food. The competent authority shall draw up reports on the official controls that it has carried out. These reports shall include a description of the purpose of the official controls, the control methods applied, the results of the official controls and, where appropriate, action that the business operator concerned is to take. The competent authority shall provide the business operator concerned with a copy of the report referred to in paragraph 2, at least in case of non-compliance. Tasks related to official controls shall, in general, be carried out using appropriate control methods and techniques such as monitoring, surveillance, verification, audit, inspection, sampling and analysis. Official controls on feed and food shall include, inter alia, the following activities: examination of any control systems that feed and food business operators have put in place and the results obtained; inspection of: primary producers' installations, feed and food businesses, including their surroundings, premises, offices, equipment, installations and machinery, transport, as well as of feed and food; raw materials, ingredients, processing aids and other products used for the preparation and production of feed and food; semi-finished products; materials and articles intended to come into contact with food; cleaning and maintenance products and processes, and pesticides; labelling, presentation and advertising; checks on the hygiene conditions in feed and food businesses; assessment of procedures on good manufacturing practices (GMP), good hygiene practices (GHP), good farming practices and HACCP, taking into account the use of guides established in accordance with Community legislation; examination of written material and other records which may be relevant to the assessment of compliance with feed or food law; interviews with feed and food business operators and with their staff; the reading of values recorded by feed or food business measuring instruments; controls carried out with the competent authority's own instruments to verify measurements taken by feed and food business operators; any other activity required to ensure that the objectives of this Regulation are met.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-01 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.