Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain

The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) is an authority tasked with ensuring the quality and safety of foodstuffs in Belgium, and safeguarding plant, animal and human health this way. It controls and inspects all processes in the food industry "from farm to fork", meaning all food production, food processing, food distribution and food service. With food safety in mind, the agency is also responsible for combating animal and plant diseases.^[1]

Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain

In Dutch: Federaal Agentschap voor de Veiligheid van de Voedselketen (FAVV) In French: Agence Fédérale pour la Sécurité de la Chaîne Alimentaire (AFSCA) In German: Föderalagentur für die Sicherheit der Nahrungsmittelkette (FASNK)
Agency logo featuring a stylized (pitch)fork
Agency overview
Formed	January 1, 2000; 23 years ago (2000-01-01)
Preceding agencies	Ministry of Social Affairs, Public Health and Environment Ministry of Agriculture
Jurisdiction	Belgium
Headquarters	Food Safety Center, City of Brussels 50°51′11″N 4°21′55″E / 50.852946°N 4.365278°E / 50.852946; 4.365278
Employees	2,800 employees (2020)
Annual budget	166,000,000 EUR (2017)
Minister responsible	Denis Ducarme, Federal minister of Agriculture
Agency executive	Herman Diricks, CEO (anno 2018)
Parent department	FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment
Website	www.fasfc.be

Organisation

The agency is an 'organism of public interest' (parastatal body) type A according to Belgian public law.^[2] It was founded after the dioxin affair rocked Belgium in 1999, which was caused by the use of animal feed contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls. Through the food chain, the toxic contamination made its way to supermarkets and consumers, inciting a nationwide scandal when it was discovered. At its foundation, the agency inherited all inspection tasks related to food safety from the relevant services of the federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Public Health and Environment, and of the federal Ministry of Agriculture.^[3]

For its part, the FASFC defends its decision,^[4] based on a tightening of the European standards in force. In June 2015, the producer, after having hesitated to engage in a showdown with the agency, declared that he had to definitively stop production, the continuation of his activity seeming to him to be impossible from now on. In March 2016, the agency was criticized for having tried to modify its article on Wikipedia, in order to remove the mention of this case.^[5]

Anno 2018, the agency operates under the authority of the Belgian federal minister of Agriculture. As of 2017, the agency has a budget of 166 million euros and is served by 2800 employees.^[6]

See also

• Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products
• Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment
• Sciensano

References

1. "Het FAVV tot uw dienst" [The FASFC at your service] (PDF) (in Dutch). Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain. January 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
2. "Wet van 4 februari 2000 houdende oprichting van het federaal Agentschap voor de Veiligheid van de voedselketen" [Law of 4 February 2000 concerning the establishment of the federal Agency for the Safety of the food chain] (in Dutch). Belgian Official Journal. 18 February 2000. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
3. Luc Beernaert (31 July 2001). "Federaal Agentschap voor de Veiligheid van de Voedselketen (FAVV) – Jaarverslag 2000 aan het Parlement" [Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) – Annual report 2000 to Parliament] (PDF) (in Dutch). Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
4. "AFSCA - Communiqué de l'AFSCA". www.favv-afsca.be. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
5. CVD et So. De (2016-03-17). "En toute discrétion, l'Afsca cherche à blanchir son image sur Wikipédia". La Libre Belgique (in French). Retrieved 17 March 2016.
6. "Het FAVV in een notendop" [The FASFC in a nutshell] (PDF) (in Dutch). Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.