National Residue Control Plan (NRCP)

The NRCP is a framework for analysing meat, aquaculture products, milk, eggs, honey and live animals for residues of pharmacologically active substances in a uniform manner throughout the EU.

The NRCP for food of animal origin is a programme carried out according to uniform criteria in the European Union (EU) annually since 1989. It mainly analyses live animals, meat, aquaculture products, milk, eggs and honey for residues of undesirable substances. In 2023, the programme was fundamentally restructured after new EU requirements. The NRCP now consists of three sub-plans coordinating the testing of food of animal origin for pharmacologically active substances. Other undesirable substances, such as contaminants, will be analysed as part of the Control Plan for Contaminants in Food (KOPKONT) from 2023. In Germany, the programme is coordinated by the BVL.

The three sub-plans of the NRCP are:

a risk-based control plan for production in the Member States (control plan),
a national randomised surveillance plan for production in the Member States (surveillance plan) and
a national risk-based control plan for imports from third countries (import control plan).

Legal basis

The authorisation for the NRCP results from Regulation (EU) 2017/625 in conjunction with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1644 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1646.

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Aim of the monitoring

The NRCP serves the purpose of preventive health protection of consumers with regard to food-producing animals and products of animal origin. It focuses on controls in livestock, slaughterhouses and businesses which receive the unprocessed raw product. This applies in particular to businesses processing milk, eggs, honey and game. In the framework of the surveillance plan, raw products may also be picked as samples at wholesale or retail trade level. The NRCP therefore makes it possible to monitor animals and animal products right from the start of the production process. By taking samples at an early stage of the production chain, products contaminated with residues can be traced back to the farm of origin.

The Control Plan (CP) is used to check whether Union legislation on the use of pharmacologically active substances authorised as veterinary medicinal products or feed additives are complied with, and whether residues of these substances comply with the applicable legal maximum residue limits or maximum levels in foodstuffs. Apart from that, food-producing animals and products of animal origin are checked for prohibited or unauthorised pharmacologically active substances.

The Surveillance Plan is intended to ensure random monitoring for a wide range of substances.

The Import Control Plan (ICP) serves to verify compliance with EU legislation on the use of pharmacologically active substances and their residues in food-producing animals and animal products in the course of official controls at border inspection posts or other points of entry, such as ships, in consignments intended to be placed on the market in the EU.

Sampling for purposes of the control plan and import control plan is risk-based. This means, for example, that consideration is given to knowledge of local or regional circumstances, the frequency of non-compliance in the past, information on the quantities of veterinary medicinal products produced or used for a specific food-producing animal species, and information on the distribution chain of veterinary medicinal product. The control plans are therefore not statistically representative. Accordingly, they do not allow drawing generally valid conclusions from the data about the actual contamination of animal products with undesirable substances.

Sampling as part of the surveillance plan is carried out on a random basis, in order to obtain a better overview of possible exposure of the population to pharmacologically active substances from animal products in the future.

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What is monitored?

The NRCP covers all live and slaughtered animals used for food production, as well as primary products of animal origin. Accordingly, the NRCP provides for testing of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and horses, poultry, fish from aquacultures, rabbits, farmed game, milk, eggs and honey. From 2023 on, reptiles, insects and animal intestines will also be tested if they are consumed as food.

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Organisation of the NRCP for food of animal origin

The NRCP is drawn up annually by the BVL in consultation with the BMEL, the federal states, the BfR and the National Reference Laboratory for Veterinary Drug Residues.

The basis for determining the sample quotas in the NRCP is the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1646. The sample numbers for the control plan and the surveillance plan are calculated based on the slaughter and production figures or the number of animals in the herds as reported for the last twelve months available. For the import control plan, sample numbers are calculated on the basis of consignments from third countries to Germany in the year currently available. Distribution of the sample numbers among the Laender is based on the slaughter and production figures or imported consignments in each Land, as regards the two control plans. For the monitoring plan, distribution of samples to the Laender is based on population figures.

The NRCP contains specific requirements for each Land regarding the number of animals or animal products to be analysed, the substances to be analysed, the methodology to be used and the criteria for sampling. The Laender organise their own sampling according to the specifications in the NRCP. The laboratories of the Laender analyse the samples, record the results and send them to the BVL.

The BVL collects the test results from the Laender and checks them according to the criteria of EFSA and the NRCP. The analysed data is forwarded to EFSA and published as a report on the BVL website. EFSA also publishes the data on its website.

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Annual examination volume under the NRCP

Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1646 sets out the minimum volume of sampling under the control plan as follows:

Animal species / product	Sampling frequency
	Group A substances (see below)	Group B substances (see below)
Cattle	At least 0.25% of animals slaughtered (at least 25% of the samples must be taken from live animals on the holding and at least 25% of the samples must be taken at the slaughterhouse)	At least 0.10% of animals slaughtered
Sheep and goats	At least 0.01% of animals slaughtered per species	At least 0.02% of animals slaughtered per species
Pigs	At least 0.02% of animals slaughtered	At least 0.02% of animals slaughtered
Equines	At least 0.02% of the animals slaughtered	At least 0.02% of the animals slaughtered
Poultry	At least 1 sample per 400 tonnes of annual production (slaughter weight) for each type of poultry to be tested (broilers, cull laying hens, turkeys and other poultry)	At least 1 sample per 500 tonnes of annual production (slaughter weight) for each type of poultry to be tested (broilers, cull laying hens, turkeys and other poultry)
Aquaculture (farmed fish, crustaceans and other aquaculture products)	At least 1 sample per 300 tonnes of annual production from aquaculture up to 60,000 tonnes, and thereafter 1 additional sample per additional 2,000 tonnes	At least 1 sample per 300 tonnes of annual production from aquaculture up to 60,000 tonnes, and thereafter 1 additional sample per additional 2,000 tonnes
Milk from cattle, sheep and goats	At least 1 sample per 30,000 tonnes of milk produced annually per animal species	At least 1 sample per 30,000 tonnes of milk produced annually per animal species
Chicken eggs and other eggs	At least 1 sample per 2,000 tonnes of eggs produced annually per species	At least 1 sample per 2,000 tonnes of eggs produced annually per species
Rabbits, farmed game, reptiles and insects	At least 1 sample per 100 tonnes of annual production (carcass weight) of rabbits, farmed game or reptiles up to 3,000 tonnes, and 1 sample per additional 1,000 tonnes; at least 1 sample per 25 tonnes of insects produced annually	At least 1 sample per 50 tonnes of annual production (carcass weight) of rabbits, farmed game or reptiles up to 3,000 tonnes, and 1 sample per additional 500 tonnes; at least 1 sample per 25 tonnes of insects produced annually
Honey	At least 1 sample per 50 tonnes of annual production up to 5,000 tonnes, and thereafter 1 additional sample per additional 500 tonnes	At least 1 sample per 50 tonnes of annual production up to 5,000 tonnes and thereafter 1 additional sample per additional 500 tonnes

Annex II of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1646 sets out the minimum frequency of sampling as part of the surveillance plan. According to this, at least 1,425 samples must be analysed annually in Germany. This is the highest number of samples in the EU for this plan.

Annex III to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1646 sets out the minimum frequency of sampling under the import control plan as follows:

Animal species / product	Sampling frequency
	Group A and B substances (see below)
Cattle (live animals, meat, minced meat, mechanically separated meat, meat preparations and meat products)	At least 7% of the imported consignments
Sheep/goats (live animals, meat, minced meat, mechanically separated meat, meat preparations and meat products)	At least 3% of the imported consignments
Pigs (live animals, meat, minced meat, mechanically separated meat, meat preparations and meat products)	At least 3% of the imported consignments
Equidae (live animals intended for slaughter for human consumption, meat, minced meat, mechanically separated meat, meat preparations and meat products)	At least 3% of the imported consignments
Poultry (live animals, poultry meat and poultry meat products)	At least 7% of the imported consignments
Aquaculture (farmed fish, crustaceans and other aquaculture products)	At least 7% of the imported consignments
Milk (raw milk, milk products, colostrum and colostrum-based products from all animal species)	At least 7% of the imported consignments
Eggs (eggs and egg products of all bird species)	At least 12% of the imported consignments
Rabbits, farmed and wild game, reptiles and insects (including live animals, meat and meat products of these species and products of these species)	At least 12% of imported consignments for each species
Honey (honey and other beekeeping products)	At least 7% of the imported consignments
Animal intestinal casings	At least 2% of the imported consignments

Furthermore, the NRCP implements the requirements of Section 10 (1) No. 1 of the Animal Food Monitoring Ordinance (Tier-LMÜV). According to this ordinance, official samples for residue tests must be taken from at least two per cent of all commercially slaughtered calves and at least 0.5 per cent of all other commercially slaughtered ungulates. The slaughterhouse samples from the control plan are counted towards the requirements of the Tier-LMÜV as far as possible.

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Substance groups according to Annex I of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1644

Group A – Prohibited or unauthorised pharmacologically active substances in food-producing animals

1. Substances with hormonal or thyrostatic action and β-agonists, the use of which is prohibited by Council Directive 96/22/EC:

a) Stilbenes
b) Antithyroid agents
c) Steroids
d) Resorcylic acid lactones (including zeranol)
e) Beta-agonists

2. Prohibited substances listed in Table 2 of the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 37/2010:

a) Chloramphenicol
b) Nitrofurans
c) Dimetridazole, metronidazole, ronidazole and other nitro-imidazoles
d) Other substances

3. Pharmacologically active substances which are not listed in Table 1 of the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 37/2010 or substances which are not authorised for use in feed for food-producing animals in the Union according to Regulation (EU) No 1831/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council:

a) Dyes
b) Plant protection products as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council and biocides as defined in Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council that may be used in the rearing of food-producing animals
c) Antimicrobial substances
d) Coccidiostats, histomonostats and other antiparasitic agents
e) Protein and peptide hormones
f) Anti-inflammatory agents, sedatives and other pharmacologically active substances
g) Antiviral substances

Group B - Pharmacologically active substances authorised for use in food-producing animals

1. Pharmacologically active substances listed in Table 1 of the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 37/2010:

a) Antimicrobial substances
b) Insecticides, fungicides, anthelmintics and other antiparasitic agents
c) Sedatives
d) Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), corticosteroids and glucocorticoids
e) Other pharmacologically active substances

2. Coccidiostats and histomonostats authorised under Union legislation, for which maximum levels and maximum residue limits are laid down in Union legislation.

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