Norway is currently recognised as having a favourable situation with regard to infectious diseases in animals and a low exposure of health hazards through Norwegian animal products. Increased international trade increases the risk of introduction of infectious diseases and other threats into Norway with a potentially negative impact on human and animal health and on the economy. Good surveillance that enables early detection and rapid response to emerging diseases and other threats is crucial to contain, control or eliminate these threats.This project aims at improving the cost-efficiency of surveillance programs within the food production chain by using a risk-based approach, i.e. by collecting samples from animals, herds or products with a higher risk of being infected or contaminated. Thereby, a more efficient surveillance strategy may be designed. This will be combined with syndrome-based surveillance and developed further into early warning systems. The food production chain of cattle and cattle products will be used as an example and threats to both food safety and animal health will be studied.By using information in Governmental and Industry registers research will be performed to identify appropriate syndromes and risk factors for Norwegian conditions. Methods will be applied to identify events deviating from normal that can be used as warning signals to trigger surveillance activities or early warning messages. The new strategies will be evaluated by their sensitivity, early detection and cost-efficiency.The outcome will be suggestions for new efficient surveillance programmes and early warning systems for cattle and cattle products. Furthermore, the methodological framework that have been developed, will be transferable to other areas of the food production. This will support the Government and the Industry in their efforts to obtain food safety, detect threats at an early stage and in efficient control of animal diseases.