Data analysis of official checks on intra-EU seafood trade: A survey on the Italian veterinary office for compliance with EU requirement (UVAC) of Tuscany in three-year period 2014-2016

European food law states that official checks on goods exchanged within the community should be performed at the place of origin, trusting in the guarantees provided by the supplier Member State. However, spot checks at the destination are also allowed. The Veterinary Offices for Compliance with EU Requirement (UVAC) are uniquely Italian offices implementing destination controls on EU products of animal origin. In this study, a data analysis on the control activity of the UVAC of Tuscany on seafood products in the period 2014-2016 was performed. Consignments were analysed according to their category (fish, fillets, crustaceans, molluscs, processed products) and country origin and data on seafood market flows were provided. Checks performed on consignments were investigated and cases of non-compliances with the EU standard safety requirements were analysed. Fish category was the most representative (49%), followed by molluscs (24%), fillets (12%), crustaceans (8%) and processed seafood (5%) and consignments were mainly provided by Spain, France and Netherlands. These outcomes were relatively in accordance with national and European data. The percentage of checked consignments was higher than the national one, although decreasing (from 0.73% in 2014 to 0.57% in 2016). 26 consignments (3.4% of the total checked) were found as non-compliant with the standard EU requirements: 12 (46.2%) involved chemical risks (mercury, additives), 9 involved biological risks (L. monocytogenes, Anisakis spp., Norovirus), and 5 involved physical risks and other minor irregularities. These outcomes proved the actual usefulness of ancillary checks performed at national level in protecting consumers' health and even represents a further data source for evaluating EU citizens risk exposure.