NVWA must provide insight into the structure of rates

The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) must provide insight into the rates it uses for the export inspection of live livestock. This is the opinion of the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (CBb) in a case brought in 2018 by Vee&Logistiek Nederland. The cattle exporters are pleased with this court decision.

According to the CBb, it is important for exporters to know how the tariffs are structured. To be able to compete, the rates must not be higher than necessary and they must also comply with European rules. At the moment there is insufficient insight into the structure and amount of the costs.

In addition to the criticism from cattle exporters, there has long been dissatisfaction in pig farming about the high costs. In the past, the Producers Organization for Pig Farming called on members to object to the high inspection costs of the NVWA. An hour of inspecting slaughter pigs for export, for example, costs around €300, and according to parties in the sector these are rates that cannot reasonably be substantiated.

Slaughterhouses also objected
In the past, objections have also been raised against the NVWA rates from the slaughtering world, reports Vee&Logistiek Nederland. Here too, a positive ruling from the CBb followed, partly due to a ruling by the European Court of Justice that preceded this. The same reasoning of the CBb applies to both well-founded objections: if there is insufficient insight into the structure of the tariffs, it cannot be assessed whether they comply with European rules.

Politicians have also been watching the NVWA critically for some time
Last week, the current chairman of Vee&Logistiek Nederland, Helma Lodders, already told Boerenbusiness In her position as Member of Parliament, she regularly worried about the high rates of the inspection body: "It is unfair to simply transfer the costs of an inefficient government body to entrepreneurs." 

Vee&Logistiek Nederland is pleased with the verdict and speaks of a success. Minister Schouten must now make new decisions within 12 weeks on objections that exporters have made against the NVWA rates for years. 

Steve Wissink

Stef Wissink is an editor at Boerenbusiness and writes about current market developments in the dairy and pig market. He also follows Dutch and international agribusiness.

s.wissink@boerenbusiness. Nl

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