Regulation No. 704 on official controls to ensure compliance with legislation on food, feed, plant protection products, animal health, and animal welfare.

This Regulation establishes the legal framework for official controls to ensure compliance with rules on food, feed, plant protection products, animal health, and animal welfare. It implements and operationalises EU/EEA law—particularly Regulation (EU) 2017/625—by setting out how public authorities in Norway must organize, plan, carry out, and report control activities. Its scope covers the entire agri-food chain, from production to distribution, with the aim of safeguarding public health, animal welfare, and environmental protection.
The regulation integrates EU rules into Norwegian law, making the detailed provisions of the EU regulation on official controls directly applicable, with necessary EEA adaptations. These EU rules create a harmonised system of controls across sectors, including food safety, animal and plant health, and pesticides. The framework emphasises a risk-based approach, requiring authorities to prioritise controls based on the likelihood of non-compliance and potential risks, while still allowing mandatory checks in certain situations such as certification procedures.
The regulation assigns primary responsibility for enforcement to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet), which is empowered to conduct inspections, take samples, issue decisions, and impose measures to ensure compliance. It also establishes requirements for how controls must be conducted — such as independence, competence, transparency, and documentation — while obliging businesses to cooperate fully with authorities. The system includes provisions on audits, reporting, confidentiality, and the right of operators to challenge decisions.
Finally, the regulation forms part of a broader governance system that includes planning, coordination, and international cooperation. Authorities must develop multi-annual control plans, report annually, and coordinate with EU/EEA mechanisms, including information systems and cross-border enforcement tools. The overall objective is to ensure consistent, effective enforcement of agri-food rules, protect consumers and public health, and maintain trust in the food system while supporting the functioning of the internal market.