NZO and NVWA work toward risk-based dairy oversight

From changing animal welfare requirements to animal disease risks, the dairy sector continues to evolve. Regulatory oversight must also keep pace with these changes. NZO and NVWA have therefore agreed on how they will work together. They aim to take a more preventive, risk-based approach, with each retaining its own responsibilities. This involves analyzing risks, learning from inspections and coordinating promptly when incidents occur.

The Dutch Dairy Association (NZO) and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) aim to build on existing initiatives and quality systems. Quality assurance in the dairy sector comprises legal requirements, government oversight and dairy companies’ quality systems. NVWA retains ultimate responsibility for statutory oversight of the sector.

Using reports and risk signals

Both parties want their cooperation to be less driven by incidents. Their aim is to use data-based reports and risk signals. These will help them jointly analyze risks and determine which issues take priority.

They also want to modernize the implementation of European inspection requirements for dairy farms. The agreement also provides for regular technical and management-level consultations.

Learning from inspections

NZO and NVWA share inspection summaries and findings annually. They aim to use these to identify recurring shortcomings and trends. The agreement runs for three years and will be evaluated within that period.

The agreement is intended to enable prompt coordination on risks and incidents at individual dairy farms. These concern animal health, animal welfare and food safety on those farms. One example is coordination on notifications from dairy companies refusing to accept milk. Reasons may include animal neglect or unwanted residues in milk.

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