The 10 per cent minimum is listed as the regulatory target in a new guidance booklet for local authorities on imported food regulation, a move by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to ensure the safety of the supply.

The booklet outlines the support available to help port and inland health inspectors increase their imported food sampling to the minimum 10 per cent the national target set by the FSA, and port health regulators.

UK enforcement authorities tested about 24,000 samples of imported food over the past year. However only about one in three local and port health authorities carried out sampling tests, the FSA stated.

A total of 1,082 consignments of imported food were rejected at the point-of-entry into the UK during the same period.

Sarah Appleby, who head's the FSA's imported food unit, said the regulator is attempting to keep the enforcement of imported food controls high on the local authority agenda.

"We know there's been a lot of hard work done in this area, but our recent questionnaire shows that many authorities think that the imported food regulation is only relevant to seaports and airports," she stated. "This is not so, and this booklet outlines the support we can offer to achieve better controls in this area."

About half the food eaten in the UK is imported, the FSA stated.

The guidance emphasises that the regulation of imported foods stretches far beyond the point-of-entry into the UK.

Ensuring that the imported food on sale complies with the law is the shared responsibility of authorities at seaports and airports and inland, Appleby stated.

Imported food sampling is only conducted on products from non-EU countries. When goods are imported from other EU countries, they have free movement.

In related news the FSA also plans to review its imported food training programme and associated resource pack for enforcement officers.

The FSA is also part of the pending creation of a searchable database of imported food legislation and guidance, containing advice on product specific requirements.

A pilot version of the Guidance and Regulatory Advice on Import Legislation (Grail) searchable database has been in use by some port health authorities, the FSA reported.

An upgraded version will be made available to all UK enforcement authorities.

The FSA is also working on integrating imported food monitoring into information requested by the Agency each year in the imported food questionnaire.

A UK Food Surveillance System (UKFSS), another searchable database, is currently being developed to holds UK sampling data in a central place.

"The system will enable a faster and more accurate exchange of information between laboratories, enforcement authorities and government departments and agencies, helping identify trends and risks on a local and national level," the FSA stated.

In the booklet the FSA noted that 13 per cent of local authorities that responded to an annual questionnaire reported that they had not appropriately authorised their officers to carry out imported food law enforcement.

"It is extremely important that authorities do this," the FSA stated. "Otherwise any formal action could be challenged in a court of law. Be prepared. Don't get caught unaware if a food incident requires a rapid enforcement response."