The European Union will strengthen animal health controls of third countries.

According to the Commission, these actions will ensure that Union citizens continue to benefit from the highest levels of food safety, while European producers will have equal conditions against their global competitors. The measures announced today respond to the commitment set out in the Vision for Agriculture and Food to significantly increase and strengthen controls. Among them, there is an increase of 50% in the number of audits carried out in non-EU countries over the next two years, maintaining the level of control in the Member States. It is also planned to increase by 33% the audits of European border checkpoints, with the aim of verifying that the Member States carry out the inspections in accordance with the requirements established by the Union. The Commission will also apply closer monitoring of products and countries that do not comply with the standards, increasing the frequency of controls when necessary, and will provide support to the Member States that carry out ...