(1)

Regulation (EU) 2017/625 lays down rules for the performance of official controls and other official activities by the competent authorities of the Member States for verifying compliance with Union legislation on food and food safety. Article 109 of that Regulation provides for an obligation for Member States to ensure that official controls are performed by the competent authorities on the basis of a multi-annual national control plan (‘MANCP’). Regulation (EU) 2017/625 furthermore specifies the general content of the MANCP, requires Member States to provide in their MANCP official controls on contaminants in food and, in this regard, empowers the Commission to lay down specific requirements for the performance of official controls, including, where appropriate, the range of samples and the stage of production, processing and distribution where the samples are to be taken.

(2)

Regulation (EU) 2017/625 repealed Council Directive 96/23/EC (2), which provided measures to monitor certain substances, including contaminants, in live animals and products of animal origin and specifically set requirements for Member States’ monitoring plans for the detection of residues or substances within its scope. However, Regulation (EU) 2017/625 does not incorporate all the measures provided for in that Directive or in the acts adopted by the Commission on its basis. This Regulation together with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/932 (3) aims therefore at ensuring continuity of the rules of Directive 96/23/EC concerning the content of the MANCP and its preparation, as well as the range of samples and the stage of production, processing and distribution where the samples are to be taken as regards contaminants in food, within the framework of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.

(3)

However, in line with Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, which refers in a comprehensive manner to contaminants in food, it is appropriate that this Regulation applies also to official controls necessary to detect the presence of all contaminants falling within the scope of Council Regulation (EEC) No 315/93 (4). Therefore, this Regulation should apply to the official controls necessary to detect the presence in food of contaminants for which maximum levels or other regulatory levels requiring or triggering action by the competent authorities are established by Union legislation.

(4)

The presence of mercury in food can be considered to occur due to environmental contamination since pesticides containing mercury have now been prohibited in the Union for more than thirty years. Official controls as regards maximum levels of mercury compounds as set out in Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), Commission Directive 2006/125/EC (6), Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/127 (7) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/128 (8) should therefore also be covered by this Regulation instead of the specific rules on controls for residues of pesticides.

(5)

In order to ensure that official controls are efficiently targeted in all Member States, it is appropriate to set out rules on the combinations of contaminants or contaminant groups and commodity groups to be sampled by Member States and the sampling strategy, including criteria to use for defining the content of their plans and the performance of the related official controls.

(6)

It is therefore appropriate to supplement Article 19(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 by laying down rules for the performance of the official controls as regards contaminants in food.

(7)

Article 150(1) of the Regulation (EU) 2017/625 lays down a transitional period obliging Member States to perform official controls in accordance with Directive 96/23/EC until 14 December 2022. Article 19(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 provides that official controls to verify compliance with the rules on food and food safety as well as feed and feed safety shall include official controls on relevant substances including substances to be used in food contact materials, contaminants, non-authorised, prohibited and undesirable substances whose use or presence on crops or animals or to produce or process food or feed may result in residues of those substances in food or feed. However, since the last monitoring plans adopted by Member States under Directive 96/23/EC will apply to the year 2022, and thus beyond 14 December 2022, it is appropriate that this Regulation applies from 1 January 2023,