eu commission decision 2002 994 ec on animal products in july 2018 china raised a concern over eu commission decision 2002 994 ec explaining that each consignment of aquaculture fish shrimp crayfish rabbit meat poultry meat products eggs and eggs products bee products and casings from china had to be tested by chinese competent authorities for chloramphenicol and nitrofurans before being exported to the eu market. in addition china explained that testing and certificates for malachite green and crystal violet were also required by the european union for imports of aquaculture products. china informed the committee that a formal letter had been sent to the eu delegation on 14 october 2016 requesting the withdrawal of these requirements. likewise china had also provided a report on the quality of products of animal origin including poultry meat and casings exported from china to the european union. however china regretted that no comments on the submitted document had been received. china conducted strict inspections on around 40 000 batches of the products mentioned. in 2017 only one batch of products had been positive to one residue and since 2010 the maximum number of relevant rapid alert system for food and feed rasff notifications per year had been eight which represented 0.02 of the total number of all exported batches. china urged the european union to amend decision 2002 994 ec and to withdraw the unreasonable restrictions. the european union recalled that the measures contained in decision 2002 994 ec had been introduced due to the detection of forbidden substances in animal products from china. the european union clarified that the exports of the products were still allowed with additional requirements for safety reasons. the measure had been implemented as an instrument to protect eu consumers. since 2002 it had been repeatedly reviewed on the basis of chinese requests and the progress made in residue controls leading to a reduction in the number of products to which the measure applied. the european union argued that the repeated amendments were the expression of the eu commitment to adapt the measure based on information and guarantees provided by china and considered data on rasff notifications an important element in the risk assessment. this issue had also been discussed in a recent meeting between the eu agriculture commissioner and the minister of general administration of customs of china. the european union expressed its willingness to adapt the measure at the request of the chinese authorities and supported by related information on control inspections. in november 2018 china reiterated its concern over eu commission decision 2002 994 ec highlighting that each consignment of poultry meat casings aquaculture fishery products and crayfish from china had to be tested for chloramphenicol nitrofuran malachite green crystal violet and their metabolites before being exported to the eu market. china explained that in accordance with the farm to table concept it implemented strict inspection and quarantine procedures for animal products exported to the european union. moreover the european union had recognized chinas food safety and residue regulatory systems conducting several on-site reviews over the past years. on this basis china urged the european union to consider removing additional testing requirements on the above-mentioned substances to reduce unnecessary costs and facilitate trade. the european union recalled that the measures contained in decision 2002 994 ec had been introduced due to the detection of forbidden substances in products of animal origin. the european union noted that exports were still allowed with additional requirements for safety reasons. since 2002 the measure had been repeatedly reviewed on the basis of information and guarantees provided by china demonstrating progress made in residue controls. finally the european union announced that the issue would be further discussed during the vi