The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN OA) is the competent authority for the coordination of food safety and nutrition risk assessment and risk management and risk communication. The Agency’s remit goes beyond food safety and healthy and sustainable nutrition, encompassing physical activity and healthy eating habits.

AESAN OA is supported by a Scientific Committee comprised of 20 independent external experts in the area of food safety and nutrition who are commissioned to draft risk assessment reports. The Scientific Committee issues scientific reports on biological, chemical, technological and nutritional hazards. Risk assessments reports are published in Spanish and English on AESAN’s website.

AESAN OA is responsible for the risk management of biological, chemical and nutritional hazards, and is the competent authority for all draft legislations relating to food safety and nutrition in Spain, which include the transposition of EU directives into domestic legislation and the preparation of draft legislations at national level.

It is also the competent authority for the coordination of official controls in Spain, and for the coordination and programming of official controls on food safety and nutrition. It also prepares the Multiannual National Control Plan of Spain in coordination with other authorities involved in food safety, called Plan Nacional de Control Oficial de la Cadena Alimentaria (PNCOCA), available in English in this link, and also drafts its corresponding annual report.

AESAN OA acts as the national contact point for Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and is a user of the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation System (AAC system).

The remit of AESAN OA also includes the design and management of communication strategies in relation to food safety and nutrition, establishing precise mechanisms that facilitate transparent communication of food safety and nutrition risks to the general public, the scientific community and other involved or interested groups.

AESAN OA has two Reference Laboratories in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625. These are the National Reference Laboratory (National Centre for Food (CNA)) and one Reference Laboratory for Marine Biotoxins (RLMB) which also acts as a European Reference Laboratory.