On 9 December 2025, the European Commission announced measures to increase and strengthen controls on imported food. According to the Commission’s press release, the measures are:

• A 50% increase in the number of audits carried out on non-EU countries over the next two years, while maintaining the level of control in EU countries; 
• A 33% increase in audits of European Border Control Posts, to verify that Member States are carrying out border inspections in line with EU requirements;
• Closer monitoring of non-compliant commodities and countries, with frequency of checks increased as required;
• Commission support to Member States carrying out these additional checks;
• Establishment of a dedicated EU Task Force to make import controls more efficient, which will focus in particular on pesticide residues, food and feed safety and animal welfare and will consider coordinated EU monitoring action on specific imported products;
• Training for around 500 national authority staff on official controls, via a dedicated EU programme;
• Updated rules on allowing imports of products with traces of particularly hazardous pesticides that are banned in the EU, in line with recently updated international standards

DG Sante had announced its audit programme in November 2025. The Directorate announced it would carry out 159 agri-food controls in 2026, including 16 audits relating to fishery products and live bivalve molluscs. The 2026 programme appears to be more modest than the 2025 programme, which was for 209 agri-food controls. This seems to contrast with the above announcement on increased audits in non-EU countries over the next 2 years.