Establishing official controls for the use of pharmacologically active substances, both authorized and unauthorised
On 23 September 2022, the European Commission adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1646. This Regulation creates uniform protocols for Member States’ multi-annual national control plans (MANCP) on sampling veterinary medical products and animal feed, searching for both authorized and unauthorized pharmacologically active substances or residues. The goal is to verify compliance with authorized substances and maximum residue limits for unauthorized substances.
Each plan must include three levels:
- a national risk-based control plan for production in Member States,
- a national randomized surveillance plan for production in Member States, and
- a national risk-based control plan for third-party country imports.
The Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1644 also establishes Sampling strategies and frequencies as follows:
1) for national risk-based control plans, sampling must be performed at or just before harvest or slaughter, using two sampling groups to sample for both authorized and unauthorized substances that meet specified criteria.
2) for a national randomized surveillance plan, specific substances for specific animal groups must be sampled in two groups—group A targeting the production process of live food-production and B sampling from eggs, milk, and frozen meat.
3) for a national risk-based control plan for third parties, guarantees and information must be provided from the importer on compliance with Union legislation.
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1646 requires Member States to submit these plans by March 31st of each year for the Commission to evaluate, as well as data gathered from the previous year for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to analyse.
