The Netherlands' NVWA Proposes Publishing the Results of Its Food Safety Inspections at Fish Processing Companies

The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) published on October 12 a draft decision proposing to make public the results of its food safety inspections at fish processing companies. The legal basis is Article 3.1 of the Open Government Act (Woo), and the list that would be published is the one existing on October 12, 2026. An example of how it would be presented was published on the NVWA website.

According to the document, the objective is to increase transparency in the food production chain, strengthen consumer confidence in the administration's actions and raise the level of compliance with food safety rules in the sector. Each inspected company would be classified into one of three categories, according to its last inspection prior to the drawing up of the list: compliant, points for improvement were found, or under reinforced supervision. Companies not inspected in the last two years within this process would appear as having no recent data.

The procedure provides safeguards for operators. Interested businesses have two weeks from the publication of the draft to submit their comments, by letter or by email to the NVWA's active publication unit, stating the date of the draft, and those submitted late are not processed. In addition, each company can add its own comment alongside the information published about it. The data will not be made public until at least four weeks after the final decision is adopted.

The measure is part of the NVWA's policy on active publication of inspection data, set out in the 2024 Policy Rule on active publication of inspection data. For fish plants, a sector where the management of hazards such as Listeria monocytogenes, histamine or parasites is central, publishing the level of compliance creates an additional hygiene incentive and gives customers and professional buyers an objective reference for choosing suppliers.