The Influence of Border Rejections and Official Controls on the Market on Alert Notifications in the RASFF

Wpływ odrzuceń na granicy i kontroli urzędowych na rynku na powiadomienia alarmowe w systemie RASFF

1

Gdynia Maritime University, Morska 81-87, 81-225 Gdynia, Poland, Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Quality Science, Department of Commodity and Quality Management, e-mail: m.piglowski@wpit.umg.edu.pl

Abstract: 

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) was created in 1979 and allows for quick response to risks for public health. Alert notifications within the RASFF are sent when the product, which presents a serious risk, is already on the market and a rapid action is required. The explicit increase of alert notifications can be noticed since 1999 and particularly since 2003/2004, when official controls on the market began to be noted. While a decrease of alert notifications can be observed since 2008, when border rejections in the RASFF began to be noted. The influence of border rejections and official controls on the market (as two variables) on the number of alert notifications in the RASFF in 1999-2014 was examined with regard to products categories, hazards categories and the European Union (EU) countries, using multiple regression. In the case of the EU countries also the influence of additional variables was examined: the number of food audits, import of food, drinks and tobacco, average total population and total agriculture production of food in the gross production value. The variable official controls on the market was statistically significant and the relationship was very high or high in case of: bivalve molluscs and products thereof, dietetic food, food supplements, fortified food, fish and fish products, herbs and spices and soups, broths, sauces and condiments (products categories) and: allergens, composition, food additives and flavourings, heavy metals, migration, mycotoxins and pathogenic micro-organism (hazards categories). The variable number of border rejections was statistically significant and the relationship was very high or high in case of: dietetic food, food supplements, fortified food (products categories) and:  allergens, composition, food additives and flavourings and mycotoxins (hazards categories). In the case of the EU countries the very high or high relationship was not found in models with the two variables and was high in case of France and Latvia in models with six variables. It can be assumed that variability of the number of alert notifications in the RASFF (especially within the EU countries) also can depend on other factors, such as: the amount of food on the market, the scope of food control, the level of preparedness of controllers or movement of people. However, it is difficult to quantify these factors (and take as variables) or the adopted variables would cause collinearity.

Streszczenie: 

System Wczesnego Ostrzegania o Niebezpiecznej Żywności i Paszach (RASFF) powstał w 1979 roku. Umożliwia on szybkie reagowanie na zagrożenia dla zdrowia publicznego. Powiadomienia alarmowe w ramach systemu RASFF są przesyłane wówczas, gdy produkt prezentujący poważne ryzyko już znajduje się na rynku i konieczne jest natychmiastowe działanie. Wyraźny wzrost powiadomień alarmowych można zauważyć od roku 1999, a szczególnie od roku 2003/2004, kiedy zaczęto odnotowywać urzędowe kontrole na rynku. Natomiast spadek powiadomień alarmowych można zaobserwować od roku 2008, kiedy w systemie RASFF zaczęły być odnotowywane odrzucenia na granicy. Wpływ odrzuceń na granicy i urzędowych kontroli na rynku (jako dwóch zmiennych) na liczbę powiadomień alarmowych w systemie RASFF w latach 1999–2014 został zbadany w odniesieniu do kategorii produktów, kategorii zagrożeń i krajów Unii Europejskiej (UE), z wykorzystaniem regresji wielorakiej. W przypadku krajów UE zbadano także wpływ dodatkowych zmiennych: liczbę auditów żywności, import żywności, napojów i tytoniu, przeciętną populację całkowitą i całkowitą produkcję żywności w rolnictwie w produkcji brutto. Zmienna urzędowych kontroli na rynku była statystycznie istotna, a zależność bardzo wysoka lub wysoka w przypadku: małży i produktów pochodnych, żywności dietetycznej, suplementów diety, żywności wzboga­conej, ryb i produktów rybnych, ziół i przypraw korzennych, zup, bulionów, sosów i przypraw (kategorie produktów) oraz: alergenów, składu, dodatków do żywności i środków aromatyzu­jących, metali ciężkich, migracji, mykotoksyn i mikroorganizmów patogennych (kategorie zagrożeń). Zmienna odrzucenia na granicy była statystycznie istotna, a zależność bardzo wysoka lub wysoka w przypadku: żywności dietetycznej, suplementów diety, żywności wzbo­gaconej (kategorie produktów) oraz: alergenów, składu, dodatków do żywności i środków aromatyzujących i mykotoksyn (kategorie zagrożeń). W przypadku krajów UE zależność bardzo wysoka lub wysoka nie wystąpiła (w modelach z dwiema zmiennymi), jednak zależność wysoka wystąpiła w modelach z sześcioma zmiennymi w przypadku Francji i Łotwy. Zmienność liczby powiadomień alarmowych w systemie RASFF (szczególnie w ramach krajów UE) może także zależeć od innych czynników, jak np.: ilość żywności na rynku, zakres kontroli żywności, poziom przygotowania inspektorów czy ruch ludności. Jednak trudno byłoby skwantyfikować te czynniki (i przyjąć jako zmienne) lub też przyjęte zmienne powodowałyby współliniowość.

Keywords: 
Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), alert notifications, official controls, border rejections, multiple regression.
Słowa kluczowe: 
System Wczesnego Ostrzegania o Niebezpiecznej Żywności i Paszach (RASFF), powiadomienia alarmowe, kontrole urzędowe, odrzucenia na granicy, regresja wieloraka
Issue: 
Pages: 
7
22
Accepted: 
29.05.2018
Published: 
18.12.2018
Download full text in pdf: 

This article is an open access article distributed under a Creative Commoms Attribution (CCBY 4.0) licence

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Citation pattern: Pigłowski M., The Influence of Border Rejections and Official Controls on the Market on Alert Notifications in the RASFF, Scientific Journal of Gdynia Maritime University, No. 106, pp. 7-22, 2018

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