Food safety surveillance through a risk based control programme: approach employed by the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain.

The principal responsibility of the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) is to guarantee the safety along the food chain. In order to accomplish this responsibility, the FASFC has developed an integrated official control program to check compliance with various regulations. The original methodology developed and applied by FASFC is presented. This methodology is based on risk evaluation, statistical tools and current scientific knowledge.