Hygiene and NVWA

The 'European Hygiene Regulations' set general and specific requirements for the production of food and feed. The main purpose of the regulations is to ensure a high level of consumer protection in the field of food safety.
For example, the general part states that companies are obliged to use a HACCP system. Specific regulations exist mainly for foodstuffs of animal origin.

There are also hygiene rules for fish oil intended for human consumption. These rules concern the quality of the raw materials, recognition of the facility in which the fish oil is produced and the hygiene of transport and storage.

NVWA

The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) is the independent regulator and supervisor that is committed to the safety of food and consumer products, animal welfare and nature. The NVWA acts on behalf of the government and performs its task on the basis of legislation and regulations. The NVWA monitors compliance with laws and regulations and they carry out checks. European regulations are directly binding. In addition to European regulation, there are national laws and regulations.

This is regulated:

that the NVWA supervises compliance with the European regulations on animal by-products;
that the NVWA can impose measures such as fines on companies that do not comply with European rules;
that the NVWA can grant registrations, approvals and permissions on behalf of the Minister of Economic Affairs to companies that work with animal by-products;
in which cases companies may deviate from the rules in the regulations, and which rules they must comply with instead;
which additional rules apply in the Netherlands to reduce the risks of animal by-products.

NVWA inspectors identify violations, make recommendations, issue warnings and possibly impose fines. On behalf of the oils and fats industry, MVO regularly coordinates with the NVWA on the implementation of legislation and regulations.