The European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr David Byrne, will propose harmonised food and feed controls within the European Union in a speech later today.
He proposes that member states develop new national food control plans to an EU-wide blueprint, overseen by the Commission's Food and Veterinary Office.
"I am less than convinced that member states have the most effective national control systems in place," Mr Byrne will tell an audience at the Green Week food fair in Berlin today.
"The community's \ systems of official controls . . . are patchy and fragmented. They are not comprehensive and coherent enough," he said in a speech seen by The Irish Times.
The Commission would support the development of control systems and carry out audits and inspections of control centres in member states. Mr Byrne said the proposals "borrow from what member states are seeking in terms of treaty reform - clearer demarcation of competencies".
The proposals will also harmonise Union controls on feed imports. Existing loopholes in feed controls are the primary cause of food scares in the EU. Another far-reaching proposal suggests criminal sanctions on those who breach food laws.
Mr Byrne pointed out the public health problems and huge economic costs of such breaches and called for "effective and dissuasive sanctions at all levels". He had in mind "the power to withhold or suspend community financial support under the CAP or under the Veterinary Fund".
The proposed food controls are the third pillar in Mr Byrne's strategy on food safety, and will complement new European food laws and the European Food Safety Authority, to be set up later this year. "It is only when we have all three pillars in place can we be reasonably assured that we can have a safe supply of food from farm to table," he said.
Mr Byrne said he will present his proposals to the European Council and the European Parliament "within a matter of months".
On EU enlargement, Mr Byrne said Slovenia has reached all the requirements on agriculture.
