EU law enforcement in Sanitary and Phytosanitary fields 2016

“Better Training for Safer Food” (BTSF) is an initiative of the European Commission’s Health and Food Safety Directorate-General (DG SANTE) aimed at organising a European Union (EU) training strategy in the areas of food law, feed law, animal health and animal welfare rules, as well as plant health rules.

Apart from the above described training activities, the Contractor will be responsible to also organise special expert missions in selected Member States and non-EU countries. These sustained training and technical assistance missions (STMs) are aimed at supporting the competent authorities in selected countries, including at local and regional level, in particular with regard to the development of action plans, information tools, documented control procedures and setting up of effective verification mechanisms in the fields covered by this contract (Link to BTSF EU SPS 2016).

Training workshops were held in the following countries on indicated topics:

• Belarus (African Swine Fever Surveillance; Avian Influenza)
• Bulgaria (Peste des Petits Ruminants)
• Croatia (Animal by-products)
• Italy (Xylella fastidiosa; Carcass Classification, IMSOC)
• Latvia (Rabies eradication in wildlife)
• Luxembourg (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Portugal (Animal welfare during transport in livestock vessels)
• Poland (African Swine Fever preparedness and response)
• The Netherlands (Carcass classification; import inspections fruit flies)
• Czech Republic (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Croatia (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Belgium (Food crisis simulatione exercise)
• Serbia (African Swine Fever Surveillance; Rabies)
• Ukraine (Lumpy Skin Disease)
• Bulgaria (Peste des petits ruminants)
• Greece (Sheep and goat pox)
• Spain (Xylella fastidiosa)

while sustained training missions were held in the following locations on the indicated topics:

• Belarus  (African Swine Fever Surveillance; Avian Influenza; Lumpy Skin Disease)
• Ukraine (African Swine Fever Surveillance; Lumpy Skin Disease; Rabies; Animal Disease Notification System)
• Moldova (African Swine Fever Surveillance; Avian Influenza)
• Romania (African Swine Fever Surveillance; ASF eradication strategy)
• Poland (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Lithuania (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Latvia (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Estonia (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Finland (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Hungary (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Slovakia (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Russia (African Swine Fever Surveillance; Avian Influenza)
• Austria (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Czech Republic (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Algeria (Rabies)
• Germany (Crisis exercise on food issue)
• Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan (Avian Influenza)
• Bulgaria (African Swine Fever Surveillance)
• Greece (Pig culling)
• Croatia (African Swine Fever Surveillance)

Due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemics, the following workshops were held in online mode (via Zoom Platform):

• Food crisis simulatione exercise

while the following sustained training missions were held in online mode (via Zoom Platform):

• Avian influenza
• Border control posts (for Nothern Ireland officers)

Duration: 06/2016 – 02/2023