Rapid Alert System

For urgent safety issues a Rapid Alert System has been established to ensure that the crisis is managed quickly and efficiently. The EudraNETnetwork is at the core of this response as it provides an efficient means of confidential data exchange between... 

Note for Guidance on the Rapid Alert System (RAS) and Non-Urgent Information System (NUIS) in Human Pharmacovigilance (CPMP/PhVWP/005/96, Revision 1). 

RASFF. 2005. Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed. Week 47, 2005. 

When Member States take measures that affect other Member States, such as withdrawal from the market when the article originates from, or is distributed to, another Member State, they should inform the Commission and the other Member States via the electronic Rapid Alert System for feed and food (RASFF). Other Member States affected by their action are then also able to act. Member States have to lay down their control activities in multi-annual control plans as from 2007. 

In each country, there is a national system for reporting adverse reactions. However, there is also a European Rapid Alert System, within the activities of the EMEA, to facilitate the transmission of incidents of pharmacovigilance. 

However, based on data of the European Conunission rapid alert system, Eood Safety Authority of Ireland is aware that products contaminated with AZA were available on the market and presumably consumed without any reported AZA syndrome [65],... 

European Commission (EC), The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Annual Report 2005, Published online at http //ec.europa.eu/food/food/rapidalert/report2005 en.pdf (accessed July... 

EUR 12b] European Commission, Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed-RASFF (Search criteria THIOXANTHONE or TRINT for the period of 01/01/1980-31/12/2012), ht s //webgate. ec. europa. eu/rasff-window/portal/ e vent=SearchF orm cleanSearch= 1, accessed on 25 March 2012. 

B) maintain a rapid-alert system to inform certified lead-based paint activities contractors of significant developments in research related to lead-based paint hazards and... 

Records of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), a system for reporting food issues within the European Union, show that mycotoxins were the leading cause of alerts and press releases in 2006 (31.2% of all cases), followed by pathogenic microorganisms (18.6%), and then by chemicals (17.0%). Mycotoxins kept their lead in later years as well (2007 26 % 2008 31 %). 

In 2003, the Sudan I dye was detected in France in a shipment of hot chili from India. This was the first time of an alert via the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). During the following years, unauthorized fat-soluble azo dyes were detected in more and more products, and efficient screening assays for differently challenging matrices were required. 

Whilst CE marking enables free movement on the single market it also permits the withdrawal by the enforcement authorities of member states, of non-conforming products. Where this occurs, withdrawal of products must be formally notified to the European Commission via the RAPEX notification system, the EU rapid alert system for dangerous consumer products covering both foodstuffs and industrial products. It is also applicable to consumer products covered by the New Approach Directives. 

Source of dioxins in nearly 50 affected farms were old bakery products, which were dried by waste gases from contaminated fuel. Food and feed raw materials imported from developing countries may also be hazardous materials. In 2007, the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) pointed out a high concentration of PCDD/PCDF (exceeding normal quantities by up to 1000 times) in guar gum found by control laboratories in Switzerland. The source of contamination was impurities in low-quality biocidal product... 

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