Food and Consumer Goods Authority (Netherlands)

The Food and Consumer Authority in the Netherlands (De Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit, or VWA, in Dutch) is the Dutch government agency with the responsibility of ensuring that companies in the Netherlands, as well as those dealing with the country, comply with Dutch laws and ordinances. Established on July 10, 2002, the VWA operates under the direction and oversight of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality (Ministe-rie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit, or LNV) and the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport (Minis-terie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport, or VWS). With its creation, the VWA took over for the Goods Testing Service (Keuringsdienst van Waren, or KvW) as well as for the National Inspection Service for Livestock and Meat (Rijksdienst voor de keuring van Vee en Vlees, or RVV). It has a major role in testing food products arriving in the country or produced within the Netherlands, as well as manufactured consumer goods. For the latter, it not only tests the suitability of products, but also their safety in a variety of household and business settings. On January 1, 2006, the roles it undertook under the KvW and the RVV were combined, and the VWA integrated its administrative structures.

The VWA, which had a 2007 budget of 170 million

Euros, has found itself having to undertake a variety of roles dealing with nanoscience and nanotechnology. First was their role in connection with food safety. With nanotechnology being used in the manufacture of some foods, and also in the preparation of some of the packaging, the VWA has been involved in checking on the safety of these in same manner which oversees other foods. However, the VWA has had a more important task in dealing with contaminants from the nanotechnology business. This includes testing consumer durables connected with developments in nanoscience. Increasing numbers of consumer items have been treated, for example, to make them last longer, or to be more impermeable to water.

Although these advances have been well received by many consumers, there have been concerns about the side effects that arise not only from the production process, potentially endangering industry workers, but also from the incorrect disposal of these items. Certainly much fear came from the massive press given to depleted uranium, and concern over contaminants when items are incorrectly incinerated. The VWA's work in monitoring the safety of items is similar to the role it takes in testing goods, conforming with Dutch laws, and also increasingly new rules introduced by the World Trade Organization.