THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules(1), and in particular Article 15(5) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 669/2009(2) lays down rules concerning the increased level of official controls to be carried out on imports of feed and food of non-animal origin listed in Annex I thereto (‘the list’), at the points of entry into the territories referred to in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 882/2004.
(2) Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 provides that the list is to be reviewed on a regular basis, and at least biannually, taking into account at least the sources of information referred to in that Article.
(3) The occurrence and relevance of recent food incidents notified through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, the findings of audits to third countries carried out by the Directorate for Health and Food Audits and Analysis of the Commission Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, as well as the reports on consignments of feed and food of non-animal origin submitted by Member States to the Commission in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 indicate that the list should be amended.
(4) In particular, for consignments of groundnuts and derived products originating from Bolivia, sesamum seeds and aubergines from Uganda, pineapples from Benin, table grapes from Egypt and pomegranates from Turkey the relevant sources of information indicate the emergence of new risks requiring the introduction of an increased level of official controls. Entries concerning those consignments should therefore be included in the list.
(5) The list should also be amended by increasing the frequency of official controls for the commodities for which the available information shows a higher degree of non-compliance with the relevant Union legislation, thereby warranting an increased level of official controls. The entry in the list concerning lemons from Turkey should therefore be amended accordingly.
(6) In addition, the list should be amended by decreasing the frequency of official controls of the commodities for which the information sources indicate an overall improvement of compliance with the relevant requirements provided for in Union legislation and for which the current level of official control is therefore no longer justified. The entries in the list concerning pistachios from the United States and pitahaya (dragon fruit) from Vietnam should therefore be amended accordingly.
(7) In order to ensure consistency and clarity, it is appropriate to replace Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 by the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation.
(8) Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(9) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Commission Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 of 24 July 2009 implementing Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the increased level of official controls on imports of certain feed and food of non-animal origin and amending Decision 2006/504/EC (OJ L 194, 25.7.2009, p. 11).