Food fraud must be countered through international cooperation

The Minister of State, Economy and Digital Transition, Pedro Siza Vieira highlighted the importance of international cooperation in countering food fraud. Pedro Siza Vieira also said that "this is a problem that crosses borders" and that "this can only be countered through international cooperation".

The Minister was speaking at a joint event of the Portuguese Economic and Food Safety Authority (ASAE), Europol and Interpol in Lisbon, to take stock of the 10th Operation OPSON and launch the 11th Operation OPSON. This is a joint initiative to counter food fraud targeting fake and substandard food and beverages, under which 15 thousand tonnes of food and beverages were seized, to a total estimated amount of 53.8 million euros. 

According to Pedro Siza Vieira, this is "a serious crime with a significant scale that calls into question the protection of rights for producers and demarcated and controlled regions, jeopardized by international networks".

According to the Minister, the pandemic "meant that public opinion realized the importance of these value chains", highlighting the problem of e-commerce. "More and more people bought online, and we detected more food fraud and other types of fraud with e-commerce".

"It is important, not just the cooperation among law enforcement in this field, but also for us to review, as we are doing within the EU, the e-commerce scheme to protect consumers, protect producers, and for us to be able to ensure accountability of those who operate these online sale platforms", he claimed.

Pedro Siza Vieira also noted that last year ASAE achieved "the highest number of inspectors ever" and noted that some of the senior staff of this institution joined its ranks, and the investment being made in the food safety lab and equipment.