Control fees and quality systems have improved food control as perceived by local food control officers in Finland Satu Tähkäpää * , Mari Nevas 1 , Maija Kallioniemi, Hannu Korkeala, Riitta Maijala Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Heath, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 66, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland article info Article history: Received 23 May 2012 Received in revised form 11 December 2012 Accepted 18 December 2012 Keywords: Food control Control fee Quality system Intra-regional cooperation Food control officer abstract Perceptions of local food control officers on introducing control fees and quality systems into local food control systems were studied in 2010 and compared with the situation in Finland in 2006. Government- regulated intra-regional cooperation, which was a significant organisational change during this same time period, was also evaluated. Most (94%) of the officers supported control fees in 2010 and the fears in 2006 about an increase in the number of complaints about officers’ work and less time for counselling food business operators (FBOs) were significantly decreased in 2010. Introducing control fees were perceived by 75% of officers to have had a positive influence on in-house control systems of FBOs. The hourly fees collected in 2010 (range 32e56 euros) were significantly higher than those anticipated in 2006 (range 21e45 euros). Although significantly more local food control units had quality systems in place in 2010 (41%) than in 2006 (24%), they were less common in intra-regional cooperation areas than in single municipalities. Based on our results, the introduction of control fees is not only a financial tool but may also improve food control at the local level. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The objective of the European Union (EU) food safety policy is to protect consumer health while guaranteeing the smooth operation of single market as well as international trade (Commission of the European Communities, 2000). The EU trades foodstuff with coun- tries all over the world, and therefore, food safety cannot be seen solely as an internal policy question; the quality and standards must be harmonized (Commission of the European Communities, 2000). However, different approaches to organizing food control in EU Member States may have an effect on the implementation of Euro- pean Community (EC) regulations (European Commission, 2009), and therefore, a community-level harmonized framework of general rules for the organisation of food safety systems has been established by EC Regulation 882/2004. It lays down general rules for the per- formance of official controls to verify compliance with rules aiming at (a) preventing, eliminating, or reducing to acceptable levels risks to humans and animals, either directly or through the environment; and (b) guaranteeing fair practices in feed and food trade and protecting consumer interests, including feed and food labelling and other forms of consumer information (EC Regulation 882/2004). Financial instruments are carefully considered in several public sectors, including food control. EC Regulation 882/2004 stipulates that every member state of the EU is obliged to collect food control fees. Food control plans and associated fees have been established to maintain a high food-safety level, to achieve consistent procedures for each member state, and to facilitate international trade with third countries (Commission of the European Communities, 2000). However, the implementation of the collection of fees differs be- tween EU member states and even between regions within the same country (Commission of the European Communities, 2000). In Fin- land, a member of the EU, control fees of regular controls were introduced by the Finnish Food Act (23/2006). According to previous legislation (Finnish Food Act 361/1995), regular controls were free of charge. Fees for food control tasks were collected from 1.1.2007 onwards. The regulation (EC Regulation 882/2004) regarding food control by statutory bodies addresses the quality systems of the official control of food within the EU. Quality control systems (quality sys- tems) are built to maintain and ensure high standards of quality and safety of products and services and to minimize variation. According to the legislation (Finnish Food Act 23/2006), all local food control units (LFCUs) in Finland are expected to design a quality system suited to their operations, whereby a control procedure is first * Corresponding author. Kotkakorventie 206, 04600 Mäntsälä, Finland. Tel.: þ358 40 757 3233; fax: þ358 201 801 890. E-mail addresses: satu.tahkapaa@gmail.com, satu.tahkapaa@helsinki.fi (S. Tähkäpää). 1 Tel.: þ358 9 191 57139, þ358 40 757 3233 (mobile); fax: þ358 9 191 57170. Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Food Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont 0956-7135/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2012.12.017 Food Control 32 (2013) 304e308