Foodlaw-Reading

Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK

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Food Law News - EU - 2019

Comission consultation, 20 May 2019

OFFICIAL CONTROLS - Commission consultation document: Implementing regulation - The Information management system for official controls Regulation (IMSOC)

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) …/... of XXX laying down implementing measures for the Rapid alert system for food and feed, and rules as regards the computerised information system for notifying and reporting on listed animal diseases, the notification of the presence of, and protective measures taken against, plant pests, administrative assistance and cooperation between Member States’ authorities, and the functioning of the information management system for official controls (‘the IMSOC Regulation’)

A copy of this consultation document is available on this site (click on image). For more details, see the Commission page at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2018-3763320_en. A draft Annex is also available in a separate document - see: Annex. Consultation closes: 17 June 2019.

The following are the opening recitals from the draft regulation::

Regulation (EU) 2017/625 establishes inter alia rules for the Member States’ performance of official controls and other official activities on animals and goods entering the Union in order to ensure the correct application of the Union agri-food chain legislation.

It requires the Commission, in collaboration with Member States, to set up and manage a computerised information management system for official controls (IMSOC) to manage, handle and automatically exchange data, information and documents in relation to official controls. The IMSOC should integrate and upgrade as necessary the information systems managed by the Commission and act as an interoperability schema connecting those systems and the existing national systems of the Member States.

The information systems for the exchange of information between Member States and with the Commission should therefore be integrated in the IMSOC; these include

The information systems were established at different times and have since been modified on legal and operational grounds. Therefore, in order to upgrade and integrate them as required by Regulation (EU) 2017/625 it is appropriate to gather in the same act all provisions relating to the functioning of the IMSOC and its system components on the basis of the powers conferred on the Commission by Regulations (EC) No 178/2002, (EU) 2016/429, (EU) 2016/2031 and (EU) 2017/625.

This Regulation should establish the necessary links between the Commission’s information systems for official controls (‘the IMSOC components’) and the national information systems of the Member States that existed when Regulation (EU) 2017/625 entered into force, so that they can exchange data, information and documents that are relevant for the performance of official controls.

Although each IMSOC component has its own specificities, this Regulation should establish the general principles which all components need to comply with, regarding ownership and responsibility for data, information and documents and connection with the national information systems of the Member States and with third countries and international organisations. It should also establish the Commission’s obligations and rights as regards the IMSOC and personal data protection provisions in Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council [see note 1 below], Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council [see note 2 below] and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council [see note 3 below].

Regulation (EU) 2017/625 provides that the Member States and the Commission should process personal data through the IMSOC and any of its components only for the purposes of official controls and other official activities performed for the verification of compliance with relevant Union rules in the areas referred to in Article 1(2) of that Regulation, including the operators’ past records as regards compliance with those rules. Therefore, considering the shelf life of products, life-span of animals and the duration of official controls and other official activities, it is appropriate to establish a maximum storage period of ten years of personal data processed in each IMSOC component.

In order to implement measures that adhere to the ‘data protection by design’ principle laid down in Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725, the IMSOC components should be given a limited capacity to insert unstructured information. In any case, it will be possible to use this capacity only where the same information cannot be provided efficiently in a structured manner. Moreover, even in the absence of explicit references to them, personal data protection principles are embedded in each provision of this Regulation, in particular as regards storage periods of personal data, access to personal data, transmission and transfer of personal data and data security.

The governance of the IMSOC by the Commission, in collaboration with the Member States, is necessary to ensure that system components are developed and used in a coherent way, so as to limit administrative burden and the establishing of different procedures where this is not strictly necessary.

To this end, it is appropriate to establish a network of members, including the Commission and, where appropriate, EU agencies, for each IMSOC system component, and for the Commission to establish governance structures to gather ongoing feedback from Member States on planned changes and new features to steer the development of the IMSOC and its components.

This Regulation should lay down specific rules for the functioning of each IMSOC system component in relation to data visibility, so as to ensure the security of the electronic exchange of data, information and documents.

Regulation (EU) 2017/625 provides that the IMSOC should be capable of helping Member States’ competent authorities to share data, information and documents to facilitate administrative assistance and cooperation on cross-border violations of Union agri-food chain legislation that are perpetrated through fraudulent or deceptive practices (‘food fraud’) and/or may constitute a risk to human, animal or plant health, animal welfare or the environment as regards genetically modified organisms and plant protection products.

For that purpose and to ensure an effective administrative assistance and cooperation between competent authorities of Member States, Regulation (EU) 2017/625 empowers the Commission to specify the technical tools to be used, and the procedures, for communication on such cases of non-compliance between the liaison bodies designated in accordance with Article 103(1) of that Regulation. It also requires the Commission to establish a standard format for requests for assistance and for common and recurrent notifications and responses.

Notes:

  1. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1).
  2. Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 89).
  3. Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39.

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