RASFF
Rapid Alert System
for Food and Feed
Health and
Consumers
Rapid Alert System Food and Feed
(RASFF)
 When a member of the RASFF network has any
information relating to existence of serious risk to
human health deriving from food or feed it shall
immediately notify it to the Commission
 In 2014 RASFF was activated 9067 times (3157 original
and 5910 follow-up notifications – never more follow-up
in the past! )
 information on RASFF notifications published:
 RASFF Portal https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasffwindow/portal/
 Consumer recall: http://webgate.ec.europa/rasffwindow/recall/
 Annual Report
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RASFF: strong in IT!
 iRASFF: real time, interactively collecting and
sharing information on hazards, risks, products,
lots and measures taken
 RASFF Window: tool to distribute notifications
"outside the system": in Commission, MS and TC
Competent Authorities
 RASFF Portal and RASFF Consumers' Portal:
provide information on RASFF notifications to the
general public and stakeholders
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Add to
bookmarks
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Rapid Alert System Food and Feed
(RASFF)
New website
to inform the
consumer about
recalls made within
the last month in
their country
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RASFF at the border and on the market
44%
56%
Border rejections at the
borders of the EEA
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Consumers
Products that are
circulating on the
EEA market and
need to be traced
Follow-up = collaboration of Member States on
notifications
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RASFF early days
• Created to report "serious and immediate
dangers to food"
• However first notifications about "total volatile
basic nitrogen"! A practice that was later set into
the framework of EU food legislation: RASFF can
be used for direct or indirect health risks.
• Hazards were'nt always well defined
• No differentiation in seriousness or priority
• Very low notification numbers
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General food law: a milestone
• RASFF received its own legal basis and is
extended to food and feed for direct and indirect
risks to human health
• Notifications on border rejections become
mandatory
• GFL boosts RASFF numbers > 1000
• Context:
• food safety = responsibility of FBO
• Requirements for traceability and recall
• Foundation of EFSA, member of RASFF
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Further developments
• Before 669/2009 and TRACES, RASFF border
rejections enabled a form of reinforced checks at the
border and on the market
• 2008:
• alerts are based on risk
• border rejections as a separate class
• 2011:
• RASFF implementing Regulation
Alert definition: notification of a risk that requires or might
require rapid action in another member country
Deadlines: 48 hours NCP / 24 hours ECCP
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RASFF SOPs: completed in 2014
• Codify the experience gained by members of the
network regarding the following key elements:
• types of notifications
• duties of the members of the network?
• requirements for transmitting the different types
of notifications?
• Commission's contact point's specific tasks?
• withdrawal and amendment of a notification?
• exchange of information with third countries?
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RASFF SOPs clarify the scope of RASFF
• The scope of RASFF covers direct or indirect
risks to human health in relation to food, food
contact material or feed as well as serious risks
to human health, animal health or the
environment in relation to a specific feed.
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Risk decision diagram
Noncompliance?
Risk?
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Serious
Risk?
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Assessment: is the issue
within the scope of RASFF?
• The assessment whether or not there is a risk
involved in non-compliant food/feed, and whether
the risk is such as to require the notification to
the RASFF is the responsibility of the members of
the network.
• A list of cases where MS have considered that the
risk was not such as to require a notification to
the RASFF is provided (heading A).
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Cases where a risk requires
or possibly requires rapid
action in another member
country (alert notifications)
• This is the case where rapid action is needed to
counter a serious risk.
• list of cases where MS have considered that the
risk was such as to require rapid action
• cases where MS have considered that the risk was
such as to possibly require rapid action (in some
cases following an ad hoc risk evaluation)
- As regards food
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- As regards feed
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Risk decision
• WI 2.1 and 2.2 in preparation to guide members
of the network to a harmonised risk decision,
which is:
• Taken on the basis of the information present in
the RASFF notification - hazards detected and the
nature of the product (risk evaluation)
• Defines, together with distribution status, the
notification classification and type of flags
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RASFF notifications as a basis for
planning inspections?
• Number of notifications = what? – what defines a
notification?
• Border control: 1 consignment = 1 notification
Consignment size may vary from few kilos to >1000 tonnes
• Market control: notifications may have a very
different "weight"
• Need to compare to other data such as
•
•
•
•
Number of controls, % of non compliances
Data on trade, import
Audit reports (FVO)
These data are not real-time…!
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Challenges for the future
 Complete and implement RASFF Standard
Operating Procedures
 RASFF REFIT: is the RASFF legal basis still fit for
purpose? (as part of the GFL REFIT exercise)
 RASFF linking and integrating with other systems
 IMSOC
 EWRS
 Food fraud/AAC
 Crisis preparedness:
 Improved data collection for foodborne outbreaks
 Improved traceability data
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