Developing and Using Checklists in Practice

Implementation of a pilot checklist for control standardization on fishery goods consignments at the Livorno border control post

“…To ensure that official controls are carried out according to the procedural flow described in the current legislation (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2017 - Regulation EU 2017/625; European Commission, 2019b , 2019c -Implementing Regulation EU 2019/2129 and Implementing Regulation EU 2019/2130), it is deemed appropriate to draft good-specific checklists based on the application of general official control procedures, complemented by specific safety and traceability aspects. In the absence of European or national standards for the design of checklists to support official controls, the pilot checklist was developed using an approach that has been successful in a variety of different professional contexts (England et al ., 2011 ; Davidow and King, 2023 ).…”

“…In contrast, a “do-confirm” checklist is used as a posteriori support tool to verify that an activity performed from memory and experience has been thoroughly completed and all relevant aspects have been verified. Moreover, according to Davidow and King ( 2023 ), it can be designed as a “static” sequential list of verification objectives or as a “dynamic” tool designed according to an operational control flowchart with decision points.…”

“…A decision box has been included at the end of the first section on documentary checks, analogously to the internal checklist, to select the subsequent control activities to be performed according to the risk assessment applied to the consignment (European Commission, 2019b - Implementing Regulation EU 2019/2129). The choice of a dynamic checklist was dictated by the need to provide a document that would facilitate the official veterinarian in applying the workflow described in the regulations through a complex process involving decision points as described by Davidow and King ( 2023 ). The establishment of a checklist in a dynamic format meets the requirements of Regulation EU 2017/625 for the updating of documented procedures containing operational instructions for staff performing official controls (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2017 -Regulation EU 2017/625, Article 12).…”

“…A decision box has been included at the end of the first section on documentary checks, analogously to the internal checklist, to select the subsequent control activities to be performed according to the risk assessment applied to the consignment (European Commission, 2019b -Implementing Regulation EU 2019/2129). The choice of a dynamic checklist was dictated by the need to provide a document that would facilitate the official veterinarian in applying the workflow described in the regulations through a complex process involving decision points as described by Davidow and King (2023).…”