Background on ASEAN Rapid Alert System for Food : ARASF
 

The EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed
 

A rapid alert system for food has been operating within the European Union since 1979, but it was the adoption of the General Food Law (Regulation (EC) n° 178/2002) which saw the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) take a huge leap forward.

The RASFF is primarily a tool for exchange of information between food and feed central competent authorities in the Member Sates in cases where a risk to human health has been identified and measures have been taken, such as withholding, recalling, seizure or rejection of the products concerned.
The quick information-exchange allows Member States to immediately identify whether they are also affected by a problem, take the appropriate measures, thereby ensuring coherent and simultaneous actions and consumer safety. The RASFF is therefore a concrete and visible result of European integration.

A relevant number of cases notified through the RASFF system concerns products imported from or exported to third countries. In order to avoid the recurrence of the problem detected, the RASFF informs third countries of origin in a systematic way via the Commission Delegations. In 2005, third countries were informed 2,188 times of a problem with a product originating from their country. Third countries were informed 278 times of a distribution of a contaminated product to their country.

Moreover, when a serious problem is detected on several occasions, a letter is sent to the competent authority of the country concerned. As a consequence of these letters, third countries take measures such as delisting of establishments, suspension of exports, intensification of controls and change of legislation. Also, Member States intensify checks at import. In addition to that, when the guarantees received are not sufficient, the Commission may take measures such as prohibition of import, systematic control at the EU borders, mandatory presentation of health certificates, etc. Additionally, the European Commission Food and Veterinary Office uses, among other criteria, the information transmitted through the RASFF to identify the priorities for its inspections programme.
In many third countries, in particular developing countries, national control systems are not well developed and lack resources, structures and equipment to ensure a proper control of the whole food production chain. Separate controls are often put in place for exported foods as opposed to food destined for their own market.
 

The EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed

 
A rapid alert system for food has been operating within the European Union since 1979, but it was the adoption of the General Food Law (Regulation (EC) n° 178/2002) which saw the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) take a huge leap forward.

The RASFF is primarily a tool for exchange of information between food and feed central competent authorities in the Member Sates in cases where a risk to human health has been identified and measures have been taken, such as withholding, recalling, seizure or rejection of the products concerned.

The quick information-exchange allows Member States to immediately identify whether they are also affected by a problem, take the appropriate measures, thereby ensuring coherent and simultaneous actions and consumer safety. The RASFF is therefore a concrete and visible result of European integration.

A relevant number of cases notified through the RASFF system concerns products imported from or exported to third countries. In order to avoid the recurrence of the problem detected, the RASFF informs third countries of origin in a systematic way via the Commission Delegations. In 2005, third countries were informed 2,188 times of a problem with a product originating from their country. Third countries were informed 278 times of a distribution of a contaminated product to their country.

Moreover, when a serious problem is detected on several occasions, a letter is sent to the competent authority of the country concerned. As a consequence of these letters, third countries take measures such as delisting of establishments, suspension of exports, intensification of controls and change of legislation. Also, Member States intensify checks at import. In addition to that, when the guarantees received are not sufficient, the Commission may take measures such as prohibition of import, systematic control at the EU borders, mandatory presentation of health certificates, etc. Additionally, the European Commission Food and Veterinary Office uses, among other criteria, the information transmitted through the RASFF to identify the priorities for its inspections programme.
In many third countries, in particular developing countries, national control systems are not well developed and lack resources, structures and equipment to ensure a proper control of the whole food production chain. Separate controls are often put in place for exported foods as opposed to food destined for their own market.
 

Regional or national rapid alert systems modelled on the EU-RASFF

 
An excellent instrument both for enhancing controls for products destined for the national market and for correcting problems as early as possible for products destined for exports could be a rapid alert system tailored according to the working principles of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed of the European Union. Such a system would improve the communication between services involved in the official controls of the food chain, providing important input on food safety issues found elsewhere in the food chain or in a different geographical location and thus reducing the amount of fragmentation of controls on the food chain that often weaken the efforts to render the food produced safer. As such, a rapid alert system would be advantageous for the exchange of information both inside the country and between countries located in the same geographical region.

At the request of the concerned countries, the European Commission has been discussing with some countries of ASEAN, MERCOSUR and China the provision of technical assistance to the setting-up of regional and/or national rapid alert systems for food modelled on the EU RASFF. The projects mainly aim at providing these third countries with information on the EU RASFF, at discussing the desirability of and requirements for setting up a similar system and promoting the setting up of regional networks of countries exchanging rapid alerts about food and feed.
 
Top