rec_39

(39) The competent authorities act in the interest of operators and of the general public ensuring that the high standards of protection established by Union agri-food chain legislation are consistently preserved and protected through appropriate enforcement action, and that compliance with such legislation is verified across the entire agri-food chain through official controls. The competent authorities, as well as delegated bodies and natural persons to which certain tasks have been delegated, should therefore be accountable to the operators and to the general public for the efficiency and effectiveness of the official controls they perform. They should provide access to information concerning the organisation and performance of official controls and other official activities, and regularly publish information concerning official controls and the results obtained. Competent authorities should also, subject to certain conditions, be entitled to publish or to make available information about the rating of individual operators based on the outcome of official controls. The use of rating schemes by Member States should be allowed and encouraged as a means to increase transparency along the agri-food chain, provided that appropriate guarantees of fairness, consistency, transparency and objectiveness are offered by such schemes. The competent authorities should have the necessary arrangements in place in order for the rating to reflect accurately the actual level of compliance; in particular, competent authorities should be encouraged to ensure that the rating is based on the outcome of several official controls or, when the rating is based on the outcome of one single official control and the findings are unfavourable, that subsequent official controls are carried out within a reasonable time. The transparency of rating criteria is particularly necessary so that best practices can be compared and, in time, the development of a consistent approach at Union level considered.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-02 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.