In October 2010, the Commission initiated the "fitness check" exercise which aims to review an entire body of legislation in a certain policy area with the purpose of identifying excessive burdens, overlaps, gaps, inconsistencies and/or obsolete measures.
The food chain was identified as one of four pilot projects. This fitness check provides the groundwork for the Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT) which was introduced at the end of 2012. It serves as both an overall assessment by establishing the state of play and, at the same time, as initial mapping exercise outlining the next steps.
Food chain was chosen for its:
- socio-economic importance: role of the Food sector in Europe
- extensive legislative EU framework: one of the most EU-level harmonized sectors.
The fitness check culminated in publication of Staff Working Document "Fitness Check of the Food Chain"