In November 2002, a central office for criminal matters occurring in agriculture will be opened at the city of Oldenburg.

According to Mr Horst Rudolf Finger, public prosecutor for the Oldenburg court, this will be an office of great importance in this field. He said that, so far, investigations had already been initiated in the case of offences against the instructions for the dealings with feed, meat hygiene and food. But now this could be done in a much more effective way. The central office would also act if offences against the Drug Law were detected.

The Lower Saxony provincial government announced that special agents would be employed who are trained for the corresponding ways of acting. Such “special units” would be established at the Hanover CID offices and the regional administration offices for the region of Weser-Ems (north-west Germany) at Oldenburg.