Serious Alert and Border Rejection Notifications on Food in the EU RASFF

The serious alert and border rejection notifications on food from the European Union Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (EU RASFF) database were used to determine their lag phases (from sampling to notification dates). More specifically, 4503 serious alert notifications on food were used to calculate the percent (%) share of various lag phases in an overall fashion (for all EU RASFF Member States collectively examined) as well as for the top-three Member States (in notification numbers), in each one of seven hazard categories. The same procedure was followed for 5236 serious border rejection notifications in each one of five hazard categories on food. The lag phases calculated revealed a state of nonharmonization (in lag phases percent shares) both overall and among the top-three Member States, and in the same MS in various hazard categories in serious alert but less pronounced in serious border rejection notifications. Thus, a “Performance Effectiveness Reporting (PER)-50/30” indicator (over 50% of notifications being notified to the RASFF within 30 days of sampling) was proposed for both types of serious notifications, and its application herein has revealed volatility in performance effectiveness reporting among the top-three EU RASFF Member States in the hazard categories. Actions to harmonize this inconsistency should be pursued in the context of safeguarding public health, aiming at the fastest possible risk management and risk communication of serious contamination incidents on food. Finally, a proposal of an “RASFF country profile” is hereby proposed.