Division 3.1.2.3 Single integrated multi-annual national control plans

Article 41 of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 provides that each Member State is to prepare a single integrated multi-annual national control plan. Those national control plans should apply to official controls by all competent authorities at all levels (central, regional and local), as applicable according to national arrangements for official controls.

For Member States with decentralised administrations, the national control plan should outline how coordination between the various administrations is ensured in order to arrive at a single integrated national control plan.

A simple compilation of individual competent authority or sectoral plans which does not address the integration and coordination of official controls within and across competent authorities and sectors, with regard to related official controls, does not satisfy the requirement for a single integrated multi-annual national control plan.

Competent authorities should devise appropriate systems for the integrated planning, development and coordination of activities regarding national control plans. This process should include putting in place arrangements for the transmission of a single national control plan to the Commission and the identification of a single contact point in the Member State for communications regarding the national control plan.

When preparing a single national control plan, Member States should provide that during its implementation, evidence of compliance is gathered, retained and made available to any body involved in carrying out audits, and to the Commission upon request, to allow verification of its effective implementation. Such evidence should include written procedures, documentation and records of official controls.