No harmful products should reach the market
The main aim for Norwegian authorities is that no harmful products should reach the market. A prerequisite to secure seafood safety is monitoring of undesirable substances such as environmental pollutants, additives, residues of pharmaceuticals for aquaculture, microorganisms and parasites in seafood from both wild catch and farmed fish, fish feed and feed resources.
The aim of these programmes is to provide a continuous overview of potentially harmful chemical and microbial agents in seafood, and the results form the factual basis of targeted measures, acute or long-term, in the event of unusual findings or levels above EUs upper limits.
In addition, each seafood processing plant has to establish and maintain procedures to ensure microbiologically safe products, as a part of the HACCP-based Own Check Routines. This includes documentation of hygienic production and proper disinfection routines, as well as monitoring of relevant bacteria in the premises and products. Should unacceptable levels of micro-organisms be found in seafood products, the consignments would not be accepted for distribution.