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Information System for Agriculture and Food Research

Information platform of the Federal and State Governments

The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL)

Institution

Description

Numerous crises like dioxin-afflicted feed, misuse of antibiotics in pig feeding and finally, the emergence of BSE in Germany in the late 1990s unsettled the trust of the populace in food safety. Following the recommendation in the report of the President of the Federal Court of Audit, Hedda von Wedel, the Federal Agency (subsequently Federal Office) of Consumer Protection and Food Safety was founded in the course of the re-organization of health-related consumer protection in January 2002. For the purpose of improving coordination between the Federal Government and the Federal States (Bundesländer) as well as improving the communication of risks, it was established as the authority responsible for risk management. Moreover, risk assessment and risk management, which were previously handled by a single institution, were split to facilitate an improvement of the transparency of state actions. The duties of the authority are stipulated in the BVL-Act as well as in various specialist laws in the area of food, commodities, feed, plant protection, veterinary medical products and genetic engineering legislation.

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Activities

  • Research

Involved in research projects

Contact

The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL)
Bundesallee 51
38116 Braunschweig
Lower Saxony
Germany

Phone: 03018 444-99999
Fax: 03018 444-99099
Email: poststelle(@)bvl.bund.de

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