The committee adopted the report (codecision procedure, first reading) by Marit PAULSEN (ELDR, S) amending the Commission proposal for a directive amending the directive on official inspections in the field of animal nutrition and the directive on undesirable substances and products in animal nutrition. Many of the amendments contained in the report were intended to tighten up the wording of the new directive. The committee also adopted an amendment providing for Commission and Member State experts to carry out on-the-spot inspections. The amendment stated that, after informing the Member State concerned, the Commission or another competent EU body (such as the future Food Safety Authority) could decide on, and carry out, inspections without giving prior notice to the subject of the inspection. It was, moreover, of the utmost importance that inspection reports be published in a spirit of maximum openness. The report also stressed the need to look at the funding of inspections, claiming that this was crucial to food safety. Lastly, it said that all Member States should have a strict control system and provide each other and the Commission with information without delay, in accordance with the precautionary principle.
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