Division 1 Purpose and Scope

These guidelines provide guidance on the nature and the implementation of audit systems by national competent authorities. The purpose of audit systems is to verify whether official controls relating to feed and food law and animal health and animal welfare rules are effectively implemented and are suitable to achieve the objectives of the relevant legislation, including compliance with national control plans.

These guidelines seek to lay down principles to observe rather than stipulating detailed methods with a view to facilitating their application to the diversity of Member State control systems. The methods selected for applying the principles in these guidelines may vary depending on the size, nature, number and complexity of the competent authorities responsible for official controls throughout the Member States.