Frequency of conformity checks and risk analysis
Article 3
1. For the purposes of this Article, ‘olive oil marketed’ means the total quantity of olive oil that is made available on the market in a Member State and exported from that Member State. 2. Member States shall carry out at least one conformity check per year per thousand tonnes of olive oil marketed on their territory. 3. Member States shall ensure that conformity checks are carried out selectively, based on a risk analysis, and with appropriate frequency, to verify that the olive oil marketed corresponds to the category declared. 4. The criteria to assess the risk are in particular: (a) the category of olive oil within the meaning of Article 2 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104, the period of production, its price as compared to other vegetable oils, the blending and packing operations, the storage facilities and conditions, the country of origin, the country of destination, the means of transport or the volume of the lot; (b) the position of the operators in the marketing chain, the volume and value marketed by them, the range of oil categories they place on the market, the type of business carried out such as milling, storage, refining, blending, packaging or retail sale; (c) findings made during previous checks including the number and type of defects found, the usual quality of olive oil marketed, the performance of technical equipment used; (d) the reliability of operators’ quality assurance systems or self-checking systems related to the conformity with marketing standards; (e) the place where the conformity check is carried out, in particular if it is the first point of entry into the Union, the last point of exit from the Union or the place where the oils are produced, packaged, loaded or sold to the final consumer; (f) any other information that might indicate a risk of non-compliance. 5. Member States shall lay down in advance: (a) the criteria for assessing the risk of non-conformity of lots; (b) on the basis of a risk analysis for each risk category, the minimum number of operators or lots and quantities which will be subject to a conformity check. 6. Where checks reveal significant irregularities, Member States shall increase the frequency of checks in relation to marketing stage, oil category, origin, or other criteria.