I. Introduction In her opening speech, held in Brussels on 16 July 2009 on the occasion of the Conference regarding the 30 years of RASFF that had been organised by DG Health & Consumers, the Commissioner, responsible for Health, Mrs Androulla Vassiliou, pointed out that the “Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed is a crucial tool for ensuring food safety in Europe” by explaining that this Alert System “has grown over a period of 30 years into a highly