Difference between revisions of "Germany:Germany/en"

| [[File:AnimalFeed.png|Animal feed|link=Animal feed|25px]] [[File:AnimalHealth.png|Animal health and welfare|link=Animal health and welfare|25px]] [[File:BiologicalHazards.png|Biological hazards and zoonoses|link=Biological hazards and zoonoses|25px]] [[File:Biotechnology.png|Biotechnology and genetic engineering|link=Biotechnology and genetic engineering|25px]] [[File:Contaminants.png|Contaminants|link=Contaminants|25px]] [[File:DrinkingWater.png|Drinking water|link=Drinking water|25px]] [[File:EmergingRisk.png|Emerging risks|link=Emerging risks|25px]] [[File:FoodContactMaterials.png|Food contact materials and packaging|link=Food contact materials and packaging|25px]] [[File:FoodIngredients.png|Food ingredients|link=Food ingredients|25px]] [[File:FoodSupplements.png|Food supplements|link=Food supplements|25px]] [[File:MineralWater.png|Mineral water|link=Mineral water|25px]] [[File:Nanotechnology.png|Nanotechnology|link=Nanotechnology|25px]] [[File:NovelFood.png|Novel foods|link=Novel foods|25px]] [[File:Nutrition.png|Nutrition|link=Nutrition|25px]] [[File:PlantHealth.png|Plant health|link=Plant health|25px]] [[File:PlantProtection.png|Plant protection products or pesticides|link=Plant protection products or pesticides|25px]] [[File:ResiduesVeterinary.png|Residues of veterinary medicinal products|link=Residues of veterinary medicinal products|25px]]

The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) is responsible for agricultural and food policy as well as food and feed safety. In the field of food safety, the BMEL prepares draft legislation and issues related to statutory regulations. The BMEL is assisted by several scientific Advisory Boards (ABs), such as those for Agricultural Policy, Food and Consumer Health Protection and for Biodiversity and Genetic Resources. The institutions within the BMEL's portfolio include higher federal authorities, legally independent institutions, the federal research institutions, institutions belonging to the Leibniz Association.

The BMEL is the central competent authority (CCA) for EU legislation in the field of food and feed safety as well as hygiene, GMOs in food and feed. Furthermore, it is the CCA in the area of plant health, for animal welfare, and is involved in the development of EU legislation related to Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) in foodstuffs of plant and animal origin, contaminants in foods and food contact materials.

The BMEL is the ministry in charge of matters of general food hygiene that are regulated in Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. The BMEL is also responsible for drawing up the report on the controls carried out by the Länder on the marketing and use of plant protection products, pursuant to Art. 68 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.

In the field of feed safety and animal nutrition, it is responsible for drafting legislation at the federal level and for coordinating its implementation with the assistance of the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). Regarding food safety risks, the BMEL receives advice from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR).

The BMEL is responsible for the following federal research institutions involved in the EFSA network pursuant to Article 36 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002, which give advice on various matters. These include the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) in the area of animal diseases, animal welfare, animal husbandry, animal nutrition and farm animal genetics, the Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI) with regard to plant health and plant protection matters, and the Max Rubner-Institut (MRI) in the field of nutrition and food. Furthermore, as part of the Article 36 network, the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (TI) provides advice on matters concerning plant health, genetically modified organisms, animal health and welfare, as well as environmental risk assessments.

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) is responsible for a range of government policies that are reflected in the name of the ministry itself. The ministry has been working for over 30 years to protect the public from environmental toxins and radiation, to promote the wise and efficient use of raw materials, to advance climate action and to ensure that natural resources are used in a way that protects the diversity of animal and plant species and preserves their habitats.

 

The structure and name of the ministry was changed by the organisational decree of the Federal Chancellor of 8 December 2021. Since then, the BMUV has been responsible for consumer protection policy as well as environmental protection and nature conservation. The BMUV therefore shapes the future of issues related to people and their living environments. It drives economic, environmental and social modernisation. Climate action also remains a key issue for the BMUV with a focus on natural climate solutions, climate adaptation and resource policy.

15 National Reference Laboratories (NRLs), active in the fields of food and feed safety as well as food hygiene, are attached to the BfR pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/625. They are NRLs for Salmonella, Monitoring of Marine Biotoxins, Foodborne Viruses, Listeria monocytogenes, Coagulase-positive Staphylococci including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Trichinella, Antimicrobial R esistance, Animal Proteins in Feed, Additives for Use in Animal Nutrition, Materials in Contact with Food, Food Additives and Aromas, Mycotoxins and Plant Toxins as well as Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Feed and Food, respectively. In addition to these NRLs based on EU law, other laboratories with a reference function are also attached to the BfR. These include the reference laboratory in the network of genetically modified organisms (GMO), the top appraisal body for the import control of wine in accordance with the wine monitoring regulation, zoonosis reporting, and the consultant laboratories for Leptospira, Yersinia as well as vibrios. The National Study Centre for Sequencing in Risk Assessment is also located at the BfR.

*Risk management  

*Risk assessment and communication (veterinary medicines)

*Food supplements, novel food and food for special groups

The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) is the national management body for risks along the food chain. In the field of food safety, BVL supports the cooperation between the BMEL, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and the Federal States. BVL runs a watching and warning system for crisis prevention. In times of crisis, it serves as a situation centre for the crisis management group of BMEL and acts as information hub. It regularly organises crisis exercises with all relevant players.

BVL is the regulatory authority for plant protection products and veterinary medicinal products.

Together with the Federal States, BVL coordinates programmes for control of food and of plant protection products, and monitoring, including monitoring of zoonoses. BVL collects and analyses data of official food and feed control as well as foodborne outbreaks and forwards them to EU. BVL manages the Official Collection of Methods of Analysis.

BVL is the German national contact point for the inspections of the European Commission, for the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) as well as the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation System (AAC) of the European Union, and in this role secures the flow of information between the EU and the Federal States. It serves as the contact point for the EU Food Fraud network. BVL is also the national competent authority in the EU authorisation of food additives, -flavourings and –enzymes.

On behalf of the Federal States, BVL hosts the Common Central Unit ‘Control of Food, Feed, Cosmetics, Consumer Goods and Tobacco Products Traded on the Internet’ (G@ZIELT) as well as the Central Unit for Surveillance of Online Trade of Plant Protection Products (ZOPf).

BVL also supports competent authorities and relevant business associations in export matters and accompanies the registration process of establishments exporting in third countries.

For authorisation of plant protection products, BVL draws on risk assessments by BfR, JKI and UBA. For the authorisation of veterinary medicinal products the expertise and responsibility are allocated at BVL. In both fields, BVL is involved in the establishment of maximum residue limits of active substances. Based on risk assessments by other authorities, BVL decides on applications for the experimental scientific cultivation of genetically modified plants. Furthermore, BVL is involved in the EU marketing authorisation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed, feed additives and feedstuffs for particular nutritional purposes (dietetic feed).

The European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL) for residues of veterinary medicines and contaminants in food of animal origin and eight National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) are attached to the BVL pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/625. Through their work, comparable procedures and results are ensured. The BVL performs the national antibiotic resistance monitoring of animal pathogens.

FLI acts as the National Reference Laboratory for designated animal diseases and is the national licensing authority for veterinary in vitro diagnostics. Internationally, FLI has been designated as the ‘Collaborating Centre for Zoonoses in Europe’ of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and hosts ten WOAH reference laboratories as well as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Rabies Surveillance and Research and FAO Reference Centres for Classical Swine Fever, for Animal Influenza and Newcastle Disease as well as Reference Centre for Emerging Zoonotic Pathogens and High Biosecurity/Biocontainment Facilities.

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| [[File:AnimalFeed.png|Animal feed|link=Animal feed|25px]] [[File:AnimalHealth.png|Animal health and welfare|link=Animal health and welfare|25px]] [[File:BiologicalHazards.png|Biological hazards and zoonoses|link=Biological hazards and zoonoses|25px]] [[File:Biotechnology.png|Biotechnology and genetic engineering|link=Biotechnology and genetic engineering|25px]] [[File:Contaminants.png|Contaminants|link=Contaminants|25px]] [[File:DrinkingWater.png|Drinking water|link=Drinking water|25px]] [[File:EmergingRisk.png|Emerging risks|link=Emerging risks|25px]] [[File:FoodContactMaterials.png|Food contact materials and packaging|link=Food contact materials and packaging|25px]] [[File:FoodIngredients.png|Food ingredients|link=Food ingredients|25px]] [[File:Nanotechnology.png|Nanotechnology|link=Nanotechnology|25px]] [[File:NovelFood.png|Novel foods|link=Novel foods|25px]] [[File:Nutrition.png|Nutrition|link=Nutrition|25px]] [[File:PlantProtection.png|Plant protection products or pesticides|link=Plant protection products or pesticides|25px]] [[File:ResiduesVeterinary.png|Residues of veterinary medicinal products|link=Residues of veterinary medicinal products|25px]]

The Max Rubner-Institut (MRI) advises the BMEL in the field of consumer health protection. The scientific advice is provided in the fields of nutrition and food and is based on both basic and applied research. MRI's research covers the areas of quality, safety and authenticity of food, healthy and sustainable nutrition, nutritional and health effects of food on humans and, in particular, the nutrition of life-stage-specific groups in the population, such as children and senior citizens. Of great importance is the overall consideration of the food consumed depending on the degree of processing and over a longer period of time. The mode of action of food ingredients is considered from the molecular and cellular level to the whole organism. Food group-specific departments at the MRI conduct research on food categories such as cereals, fats and oils, milk and fish, fruits and vegetables, and meat. The period under consideration extends from harvesting or production to consumption of the food by humans. The study of nutritional behaviour is also of particular importance. Overall, the results of the research activities are used to derive recommendations for a health-supporting diet.

MRI is responsible for the further development and implementation of the National Nutrition Monitoring and the German Nutrient Database (BLS). It performs sovereign functions under the Agricultural Statistics Act and the Radiation Protection Act. In addition, the National Breastfeeding Commission (NSK) is located at the MRI.

 

The MRI cooperates with the departmental research institutions in the portfolio of the BMEL, especially in nutrition-related studies, in the fields of sustainable agricultural and food systems, digitalization, new crop production systems, plant-based nutrition, biodiversity, nanotechnology, bacteriophages and pathogens (including zoonoses) in the food chain, trans fatty acids, mineral oil components, plant toxins and mycotoxins, among others ergot and ergot alkaloids, in food and raw materials, standardization of analytical methods, and development of minimization strategies for undesirable substances in various foods and products. Another aspect concerns cooperation in the field of food authenticity, e.g. in the case of fish and seafood, in order to combat food fraud.

The German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt - UBA), which was set up on 22 July 1974 through the Act establishing a German Environment Agency, supports the Federal Environment Ministry in matters relating to immission control, soil conservation, waste management, water resources management and health-related environmental issues. Other areas include, in particular, the preparation of legal and administrative provisions, research and development of foundations for suitable policies and the review and examination of procedures and institutions.  

 

UBA is also involved in the enforcement of a number of laws, for instance, in the field of emissions trading, the Plant Protection Act, the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act and the EU REACH regulation.  

One of UBA’s important tasks is raising awareness of environmental issues. To this end, UBA provides access to extensive databases, regularly publishes the "Data on the Environment" indicator report and runs the largest environmental library in a German-speaking country.

UBA provides central services and support for the environmental research of the Federal Environment Ministry and for coordinating environmental research by federal authorities. The agency also assists in awarding the "Blue Angel" eco-label.