While inspectors will not normally wish to enter test facilities against the will of the facility's management, circumstances may arise where test facility entry and access to data are essential to protect public health or the environment.

(7) In its Resolution of 29 June 2000 on the follow-up to the Evora conference on health determinants, the Council considered that the increasing differences in health status and health outcomes between and within Member States called for renewed and coordinated efforts at national and Community level; welcomed the Commission's commitment to submit a proposal for a new public health programme containing a specific strand of action aimed at addressing health determinants by means of health promotion and disease prevention underpinned by intersectoral policy and agreed that there was a need to develop the appropriate knowledge base for th ...[+++]is and, therefore, that an efficacious health monitoring system should be established for this purpose; stressed the importance of the new Community public health strategy building upon the activities on specific determinants taken in the existing programmes, especially with respect to tobacco, nutrition and alcohol and that it was important not only to ensure continuity with existing actions, but also to take forward work on these issues in a fully coherent and systematic way.

(18) The overall aim of the public health programme is to contribute towards the attainment of a high level of physical and mental health and well-being and greater equality in health matters throughout the Community, by directing action towards improving public health, preventing human diseases and disorders, and obviating sources of danger to health with a view to combating morbidity and premature mortality, while taking gender and age into consideration.

(6) The Council in its Conclusions of 26 November 1998 on the future framework for Community action in the field of public health(17), and in its Resolution of 8 June 1999(18), the Economic and Social Committee, in its opinion of 9 September 1998(19), the Committee of the Regions, in its Opinion of 19 November 1998(20), and the European Parliament, in its Resolution A4-0082/99 of 12 March 1999(21), welcomed the Commission communication of 15 April 1998 and supported the view that actions at Community level should be set out in one overall programme to run for a period of at least five years and comprising three general objectives, namely ...[+++] improving information for the development of public health, reacting rapidly to health threats and tackling health determinants through health promotion and disease prevention, underpinned by inter-sectoral action and the use of all appropriate Treaty instruments.

(11) rare diseases have been identified as a priority area for Community action within the framework for action in the field of public health; the Commission, in its communication concerning a programme of Community action on rare diseases within the framework for action in the field of public health has decided to give rare diseases priority within the public health framework; the European Parliament and the Council have adopted Decision No 1295/1999/EC of 29 April 1999 adopting a programme of Community action on rare diseases within the framework for action in the field of public health (1999 to 2003)(5), including actions to provide ...[+++] information, to deal with clusters of rare diseases in a population and to support relevant patient organisations; this Regulation implements one of the priorities laid down in this programme of action,

Special attention should be paid to training inspectors and staff in the administrations, to modernise laboratories and to support efforts to bring the food processing sector in line with EU public health requirements.