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Food Safety

Harmful organisms outbreaks in the EU

All EU countries are required to notify the European Commission and other EU countries of the presence of harmful organisms on their territory, and the measures taken to eradicate or control the spread (under Article 16 of Directive 2000/29/EC).

The European Commission analyses these reports and routinely discusses them internally and with the EU Member States. Based on the reports:

  • If necessary, the EU country concerned can apply for financial support in controlling the harmful organism.

  • In certain cases emergency measures are adopted at EU level to strengthen the requirements for control.

  • The information is used in deciding where audits by the Commission's Health and Food Audits and Analysis office take place.

The type and extent of information provided by the EU countries, as well as a follow up reporting are different from one country to another. Harmful organisms are not always timely reported.

Since the adoption of Decision 2014/917/EU the Commission, with Member States, has developed a web based notification system, EUROPHYT-Outbreaks, to improve MS reporting and facilitate an enhanced level of protection of the EU against harmful organisms outbreaks.

Please refer to the "Harmful organisms outbreaks in the EU" publications, below:

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