National Monitoring Plan for POAO: Data Analysis Report 2022-23 - Introduction

National Monitoring Plan (NMP) data for products of animal origin (POAO) has been sourced from the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS), GB’s replacement for the EU’s TRACES system.

NMP samples have been identified where the ‘random’ button has been selected on the ‘checks’ tab, as advised by the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) Trade Facilitation Unit. To be aware that not all random samples recorded on IPAFFS are necessarily taken for the NMP, for example those testing for speciation or authenticity are not normally included here. As a result, extracting the NMP data from IPAFFS has necessitated a certain amount of data cleansing.

Overview of sampling carried out

During this period, a total of 2,212 samples were identified as being taken under the POAO NMP.  These were against the following hazard categories:

• Veterinary residues
• Microbiological
• Heavy metals
• Chemical contaminants
• Biotoxins

There is also a summary for NMP sampling of dog or cat food and for other product types not for human consumption also classed as pet food. Otherwise, feed for animals destined for the food chain is not included in the NMP.

Figure 1 - Samples taken by hazard

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Hazard	Number of samples	Percentage
Veterinary residues	877	40
Microbiological	674	30
Heavy metals	546	25
Chemical contaminants	73	3
Biotoxins	42	2
Total	2,212	100%

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As we can see in figure 1, the majority of the samples taken were for veterinary residues (877 or 40%), followed by microbiological hazards (674 or 30%); heavy metals (546 or 25%); chemical contaminants (73 or 3%) and biotoxins (42 or 2%). These ratios closely match those in the same categories in the previous twelve-months reporting period, except for veterinary residues where sampling has decreased by 10%, and heavy metals where sampling has doubled. The total amount of sampling (2,212 samples) is an increase compared with the previous period (1,254 samples), possibly to do with continued increased activity since the decline of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As figure 2 shows, consignments from 42 countries were sampled, most frequently from India (304 or 14%), Thailand (289 or 13%), China (281 or 13%), Vietnam (211 or 10%), Sri Lanka (149 or 7%), New Zealand (98 or 4%), Brazil (92 or 4%), Myanmar (88 or 4%) and Pakistan (82 or 4%).

Figure 2 - Percentage of samples taken by country of origin

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Country of origin	Number of samples	Percentage
India	304	14%
Thailand	289	13%
China	281	13%
Vietnam	211	10%
Sri Lanka	149	7%
New Zealand	98	4%
Brazil	92	4%
Myanmar	88	4%
Pakistan	82	4%
Chile	76	3%
Indonesia	64	3%
Ukraine	64	3%
Turkey	54	2%
Australia	53	2%
Bangladesh	49	2%
Morocco	48	2%
Ghana	35	2%
Falklands Islands*	20	1%
Serbia*	19	1%
Argentina*	14	1%
Ecuador*	14	1%
United States*	13	1%
Seychelles*	12	1%
South Korea*	11	0%
Macedonia*	8	0%
Papua New Guinea*	8	0%
South Africa*	7	0%
Israel*	6	0%
Peru*	6	0%
Philippines*	5	0%
Mauritius*	4	0%
Mexico*	4	0%
Paraguay*	4	0%
Taiwan*	4	0%
Canada*	3	0%
Nicaragua*	3	0%
Uruguay*	3	0%
Colombia*	2	0%
Namibia*	2	0%
Honduras*	1	0%
Maldives*	1	0%
Venezuela*	1	0%
Total	2212	100%

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Please note, countries that have been sampled at less than 2% are classed together as ‘other’ in the figure 2 chart.

Samples were taken from 17 product categories. During this period, fish accounted for 617 samples, with 462 for poultry and 427 for crustaceans. Compared with the previous period, in 2021-22 there was higher sampling of fish (330 samples) and crustaceans (199 samples), while poultry sampling remained largely unchanged. 

Figure 3 - Samples taken by product category and percentage of total

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Country of origin	Number of samples	Percentage
Fish	617	28%
Poultry	462	21%
Crustaceans	427	19%
Bovine	102	5%
Gelatin	102	5%
Ovine	102	5%
Pet food	85	4%
Honey	71	3%
Milk & milk products	68	3%
Shellfish	66	3%
Molluscs	40	2%
Eggs	36	2%
Others	34	2%
Total	2,212	100%

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Of the samples taken, a total of forty-three were found to be non-compliant (1.9% compared to 0.6% in the previous period). There were non-compliances in the following hazard categories: chemical contaminants, heavy metals, microbiological and veterinary residues, compared with eight non-compliances in the previous period.