Safety Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Act.

The present Act establishes a Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety within the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture. The aim of the afore-mentioned Office is to improve coordination of consumer health protection between the federal government and the federal states, to make the communication of risks more transparent and to manage risks before they turn into crises. The Office contributes to food safety in Germany by taking various measures. It issues approvals and coordinates monitoring programs together with the federal states. As part of the European rapid alert system, the Office is a national point of contact for the flow of information between the EU and the federal states. It supports the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) with crisis management and assists in EU and third-country inspections in Germany.
The Office is also involved in approving feed additives and diet feed by examining and evaluating motions. In addition, it administrates the register of certified and/or registered feed companies and the register of border posts determined for the import of certain feeds. It also contributes towards the coordination of the National Control Programme for Feed Safety and coordinates the EU-wide feed testing and survey programmes in Germany.
Furthermore, the Office is responsible for approving veterinary drugs and participating in EU approval procedures in Germany. If approved veterinary drugs produce unwanted effects, the pharmaceutical companies are required to report this to the Office. In addition, it studies the current antibiotic resistance of bacteria that occur in food-producing livestock and develops measures that counteract the development of resistance.
As far as plant protection products are concerned the Office is responsible for approving plant protection products in Germany and is the national coordination point for evaluating active substances of plant protection products in the EU. In the approval procedure, it is responsible for risk management, which is designed to avoid negative effects of plant protection products for people and the environment.
The release of genetically modified organisms (GMO) for scientific trials must be approved by the Office. If GMOs are to be cultivated for commercial purposes, the Office gives its opinion as the national authority in the EU's approval procedure. The Institute is the office of the Central Commission for Biological Safety, which advises the federal government and the federal states. In addition, the Office manages the international information exchange for Germany on live GMOs in the Biosafety Clearing House. The text consists of 8 articles.