Official controls
Food‑control management
Official food control encompasses a number of mandatory activities performed by competent authorities under their regulatory mandate, which are necessary to ensure food quality and safety and, thus, to protect the health of consumers and their economic interests. Food control management – the process of making decisions about and managing national food control systems – should rest on a foundation of evidence and risk analysis. In particular, risk‑management as part of the risk‑analysis framework provides a continuous and integrated process for planning, organizing, monitoring, coordinating and communicating a broad range of regulatory decisions and actions to ensure the safety and quality of domestically produced, imported and exported food. Food control management includes establishing leadership and administrative structures with clearly defined accountability for a number of functions.
An effective national food control system requires policy and operational coordination at the national level in accordance with the particular governmental or constitutional arrangements and institutions. Within the framework of Codex Alimentarius Principles and Guidelines for National Food Control Systems, countries have flexibility to determine how best to design their food control systems and implement specific control measures. An effective framework for food control should consider national goals and objectives and will require the establishment of one or several competent authority(ies) with the responsibility to manage the effective operation of the national food control system. The competent authorities have a pivotal role in the national food control system, including:
- providing leadership and coordination for the national food control system;
- designing, developing, operating, evaluating and improving the national food‑control system;
- establishing, implementing and enforcing science‑ and risk‑based regulatory requirements that encourage and promote positive food‑safety outcomes;
- establishing, implementing and enforcing regulatory requirements to support fair practices in the food trade;
- establishing and maintaining arrangements with supporting organizations such as officially recognized inspection, audit, certification and accreditation bodies, where appropriate;
- advancing and fostering knowledge, science, research and education regarding food safety;
- engaging with stakeholders to ensure transparency and to obtain their views; and,
- where appropriate, establishing and maintaining arrangements with other countries through cooperation programmes, equivalence agreements, etc.
Collectively, competent authorities should work in a manner that ensures:
- Situational awareness – Managerial decisions should take into account accurate and current information covering the entire food chain.
- Proactivity – National food control systems should be capable of identifying existing and emerging hazards before they materialize as risks in the food‑production or processing chain and at the early stages, rather than in the end product. Early‑warning and rapid‑alert systems, traceability and contingency planning for managing and preparing for potential food‑safety incidents should be an inherent part of a proactive control system.
- Continuous improvement - National food control systems should possess the capability to learn through a process of review and reform.
- Competent authorities and officially recognized bodies undertaking compliance and enforcement activities on behalf of the competent authority should be resourced sufficiently and transparently, in order to enable the national food‑control programmes to achieve their objectives without compromising on integrity and independence.
It is important that effective communication and coordination mechanisms allow competent authorities to plan and implement their course of action in support of common and consistent policy objectives. Where there are several competent authorities within a national food control system, they should operate in a cooperative and coordinated manner, within clearly assigned roles and responsibilities. This will ensure the most effective use of resources (minimizing the duplication of activities as well as minimizing gaps in food control systems), and will facilitate information exchange.
Food control management also covers the various policy and operational responsibilities of government authorities responsible for food control. These include the development and implementation of food control policies, strategies and plans that reflect the government’s commitment to food safety and quality and provide a sound framework for food control activities.
Foundational to the work of a competent authority is a food safety legislation that provides it with the range of powers and mechanisms sufficient to manage and operate the national food control system, reflecting the intended policy objective and commensurate with the risks it is intended to mitigate.