On 22 June 2023, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) issued its Annual review 2022 published. In it, as it does every year, NVWA recounts the most important results and events of the past year. In addition, the NVWA accounts for the results of its work.
Gerard Bakker, inspector general of the NVWA, says that supervision involves a lot of cooperation with policymakers, NGOs and industry leaders. So also with the meat sector to monitor compliance with laws and regulations. It is up to the business community to take good care of their animals and combat animal welfare violations. That is what NVWA wants to stand up for.
The NVWA ran projects, carried out inspections and found violations in 2022. These included using new detection techniques to find medicine residues in beef, confiscating cases with a total of 105 kilos of glass eels and fines for manure fraud. Furthermore, the NVWA confiscated over 500 cubic metres of faulty wood and warned about life-threatening hard drugs in champagne. In addition, many public warnings were published. All subjects that are in the public eye.
The world is changing and supervision is changing with it. Besides regular inspections, the NVWA is constantly looking at new and different supervision tools to reduce risks and promote compliance. In 2022, for example, the NVWA developed an app that gives inspectors geographical information on tiger mosquito breeding sites, among other things. Furthermore, drones have been used in inspections of crop protection product use.
For the camera surveillance pilot in slaughterhouses, the NVWA won the public award 'Innovation Award for Supervision 2022'.
In 2022, the NVWA has received additional resources to strengthen the organisation, to continue promoting compliance with laws and regulations and to intervene where necessary. The NVWA also sees that society is increasingly involved and looking over its shoulder. It makes NVWA's work visible, open and transparent. That is why we provide clarity on why we make certain choices to ensure the supervision of the safety of food and consumer products, animal welfare and the protection of nature. And we provide insight into what resources and possibilities the NVWA can use to do this work well.
Source: NVWA in 2022: the world is changing and supervision is changing with it | News release | NVWA
