FVO report – Italy – Dioxin testing of oils, fats and products derived thereof for use in animal feeding

The report it is quite interesting because, beside the overall good result the audit stressed the long turnaround time needed for having analysis results. This fact impedes often to adopt corrective actions in a timely manner and to stop potential crisis at their earliest stage.

This report describes the outcome of an audit carried out by the Food and Veterinary Office in Italy from 18 to 27 February 2014.

The overall objective of the audit was to evaluate the implementation of the specific requirements concerning the production, storage, transport and dioxin testing of oils, fats and products derived thereof for use in animal feeding introduced in Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 through its amendment, Regulation (EU) No 225/2012.

Overall the report concludes that the system of official controls is largely effective in verifying that operators along the feed chain comply with the requirements concerning production, storage, transport and dioxin testing of oils, fats and products derived thereof. However, it is at an early stage of development and, although some good practices were noted, it is not applied in a consistent way throughout the country. The main reason for this situation is linked with a general delay in the process of development and adoption of comprehensive check-lists that would facilitate a structured and systematic verification of relevant requirements, in particular during the approval of establishments.

Moreover, although some measures to reduce the turnaround time for analyses of dioxins have been taken, these are still not sufficient to ensure that corrective actions are taken in a timely fashion.