Risk-based Sampling: Perspective from Hungarian National Food Chain Safety Office

One of the most important tasks of the central competent authorities in Europe is to plan an effective, risk-based control plan. As an effect of different institutional, political, economic and cultural background, there are different interpretations of being risk-based and different solutions and approaches co-exist in the EU Member States.

The risk-based concept offers the most effective planning methodology, however, different definitions exist for risk. Should only health risks be taken into consideration or other risks as well? How should the planning process be built to serve those different needs? What input data could be used and how the information needed could be collected? How risk assessment is connected to the operative sampling plan (as a part of risk management)? What is the outcome of an effective planning and how it could be measured?

All the experts dealing with planning exercises face those questions from time to time. The presentation shows the interpretation of those questions and examples from the perspective of Hungarian central competent authority.