Question for written answer to the Commission 16 January 2014
Marc Tarabella (S&D) , Jean Louis Cottigny (S&D)
Subject: European Food Fraud Register
Could the Commission, as repeatedly called for by the European Parliament, systematically gather data on cases of fraud and exchange good practices with a view to detecting and combatting food fraud?
Could the Commission publish the results of these exchanges?
Finally, and above all, does the Commission share Parliament’s opinion on the need to create a European register listing the different companies convicted of food fraud and to make it more accessible to the public?
Answer given by Mr. Borg on behalf of the Commission 27 February 2014
The Commission is currently working on the development of a dedicated IT system to strengthen Member States cooperation and ensure an efficient exchange of information on potential cross-border cases of economically motivated violations of food chain law. Such IT system will support the work of a recently created network of competent authorities dealing with potential fraud matters in the Member States.
The IT system in question will enable the rapid exchange of information between Member States in cross-border cases and will also allow the gathering of structured information on potential frauds and on best practices to combat them, to be shared with all concerned actors.
The Commission has no current plans to create an European register of companies convicted of food fraud. It is up to the Member States to decide how to handle and publish cases of fraudulent behavior in the food sector.
However the Commissioner intends to launch soon a study on the application of the existing legal framework, with the aim of assessing how existing rules deliver on the objective of preventing fraudulent or deceptive practices in accordance with Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.
© European Union, 2014 – Source: European Parliament
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