Did you sell or produce human food or animal feed in the Netherlands that is potentially unsafe, you must report this immediately to the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (Nederlandse Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit, NVWA).
If you fail to notify the NVWA of unsafe food or feed, you may be fined, receive a written warning or an official report.
Unsafe human food
A product is considered unsafe human food if:
- the product is unsuitable (for instance if it is contaminated with extraneous matter or otherwise, it has deteriorated or does not comply with legal standards)
- the product is harmful (for instance it contains too many chemicals or glass particles)
Reporting unsafe human food
Dis you sell, produce, distribute or store potentially unsafe human food in the Netherlands? You must report this to the NVWA (in Dutch). You must also inform NVWA who you supplied the product to and who supplied you with the unsafe raw material. In addition, you must inform your supplier(s).
Did you transport or distribute human food and do you think this food may be unsafe? You must report this to the NVWA as well.
Animal feed
If you produce, sell or transport animal feed you should register with the NVWA. If you supply farms with animal feed for barn animals or cattle, you must register your business with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and report (in Dutch) all relevant data with regard to the products you have supplied.
Unsafe animal feed
Unsafe animal feed is:
- feed which contains undesirable or harmful substances or extraneous matter
- feed which may be hazardous for the health of animals and people
- feed that is harmful to the environment
Reporting unsafe animal feed
Did you discover potentially unsafe feed or animal by-products? You must report the animal feed to the NVWA (in Dutch). Anyone working with animal feed has to report unsafe products, for instance:
- feed businesses
- livestock farmers
- laboratories (in Dutch)
- veterinarians
- (feed) transport companies (in Dutch)
- storage operators
- transhipment companies
Please note: You can find direct links to all applicable (Dutch-language) forms to report unsafe food and unsafe animal feed on the NVWA's website.
After your notification
After you have reported unsafe human food or animal feed, the NVWA will check with you:
- how big the risk is
- if the measures you have taken are sufficient
- if you should take extra measures such as retrieving the products from stores or announcing a recall
If the health risks are substantial, you must recall the product and supply a safety warning (in Dutch) to the NVWA. The NVWA publishes all recalls on their website (in Dutch).