1. Authorities

General Foods
Spain

This section provides an overview of the Authorities involved in setting regulations and managing compliance with the food product in scope.

SPANISH Legal Framework

Spanish Agency for Food Security and Nutrition (AESAN) [1]
The Spanish Agency for Food Security and Nutrition (AESAN) integrates and performs, within the competence framework of the General State Administration, the functions related to food security and healthy nutrition in the country. It is an Autonomous Agency, organically attached to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, through the General Secretariat of Consumer Affairs and Gambling and functionally to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Among its functions, AESAN oversees the sanitary registration of the General Sanitary Registry of Food and Food Companies (RGSEAA) whose purpose is the protection of public health and the interests of consumers. This database includes the census of food companies that operate in Spain and require national health registration, proving to be an effective tool to facilitate their official control of them. It also includes the list of certain foods legally marketed in Spain, which also allows their control by the competent authorities

EU Legal Framework

1) EU Commission [2]
Proposes and enforces legislation, and implements policies and the EU budget. The EU Commission is led by a team or 'College' of Commissioners, 1 from each EU country. The European Commission is the EU's politically independent executive arm. It is alone responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation, and it implements the decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

2) European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) [3]
EFSA serves as an impartial source of scientific advice to risk managers and communicates risks associated with the food chain. EFSA cooperates with interested parties to promote the coherence of EU scientific advice. EFSA provides the scientific basis for laws and regulations to protect European consumers from food-related risks – from farm to fork.  Description of roles and responsibilities of Authority.

3) Border Control Posts (BCPs) [4]
All composite products (foodstuffs containing both products of plant origin and products of animal origin (e.g. mayonnaise containing egg products or savory/sweet sauce containing dairy ingredients or honey or meat juices)) must be presented at the BCPs for control before their entry into the EU market (for further details please refer to the Section 7. Importation requirements).

1.1 References

1. Website of the Spanish Agency for Food Security and Nutrition (AESAN)

https://www.aesan.gob.es/AECOSAN/web/home/aecosan_inicio.htm 

2.  EU Website

https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institutions-and-bodies/search-all-eu-institutions-and-bodies/european-commission_en#:~:text=The%20European%20Commission%20is%20the,the%20Council%20of%20the%20EU 

3. EFSA 

https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en 

4. Border Control Posts 

https://food.ec.europa.eu/animals/veterinary-border-control/contact-details-bcps-veterinary_en#EU