Harmonisation of inspection fees. At the 7 March Advisory Group on the Food Chain a DG SANCO official reported that a (German) external consultancy group was recently appointed by DG SANCO to assess whether the EU needs to harmonise fees for inspections carried out under the 882/2004 Regulation on official food and feed controls. "Any harmonisation would not cover the amount charged but the types of inspections for which Member State authorities charge. Some Member States foot the bill for certain inspections themselves while others charge industry for the same controls, meaning an unfair competitive advantage for companies based in countries where they do not have to pay", the DG SANCO official stated. The European Commission has asked the consultant to assess the way that Regulation 882/2004 is implemented in the 27 Member States, notably when it comes to fees. He added that that some Member States strictly followed the annexes to the Regulation, while others applied flat rates or charged fees for other sectors. Indeed CLITRAVI's overview TL/07/150 of 30 November 2007 showed such a picture. The consultants will also look at whether fees should be levied on other sectors as they are mostly limited to businesses handling food of animal origin. Their report, which the Commission is expecting to receive at the end of October 2008, will consider whether fees should be levied for inspections of foods not of animal origin too. The Commission will then use the report to draw up a communication reviewing the Regulation with - if necessary - proposals for any changes such as a shift to harmonised fees. The Commission is planning to issue the communication and any proposals in the first half of 2009. However, the official underlined that any proposal would be to harmonise the situations where fees where charged not the amount. "We don't want to say €1 or €10 is not enough," the official stressed. The official said that the Commission could decide that changes are not needed and that the overall goal for the consultants was to map out the current situation so that Member States have a clear picture. If the Commission is to propose change then it wants to put forward something that is useful for Member States, the official stressed. "We think the first step is to clearly identify the situation if you want to modify it," he said. The official said one reason that the Commission was looking to harmonise fees was that firms in countries that do not charge could enjoy a competitive advantage over those in Member States that do. But this is not the only reason as the Commission also wants to see a common approach to inspections and fees in the EU. |
