• Entrepreneurs
• Business information
• Certification
• CAFIA laboratories
• CAFIA opinions
• More information
• Consumers
• How to know the food market
• Results of CAFIA inspections
• Consumer rights
• List of risky sites
• Hoaxes
• Other visitors
• Press Releases
• Internships at CAFIA
• Public contracts

The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (CAFIA) found unannounced consignments of imported poppy seeds. The consignments amounting to 1,364.150 tons were found at company UNIFOOD.cz s.r.o., Radlická 19/1 Prague within an inspection focused on notification duties.

Additionally provided documentation showed that the inspected person imported 58 consignments of poppy seeds (from Spain, Great Britain). However, the operator failed to comply with the duty to notify CAFIA of arrival of the consignments, which is laid down by Decree No. 172/2015 Coll., namely that the receiver of poppy seeds from another EU or third country has to announce the arrival of the consignment 24 hours before its arrival into the destination at the latest.

The operator imported the consignments in question into the CR between 1. 1. 2018 and 31. 12. 2018.

With regard to the fact that the notification duty was not met by the food business operator as regards the revealed consignments of poppy seeds, data on import of poppy seeds provided to CAFIA did not match with data available from public resources. The aim of the notification duty is to enable supervisory authorities to regularly and systematically check safe and quality parameters of imported poppy seeds.

In the same storage, CAFIA also sampled foodstuff “Blue poppy seeds” supplied by Mansuroglu Mah. Ankara CAD, Bayrakl Tower Bayrkli/Izmir, country of origin: Turkey. Laboratory analysis proved presence of morphine alkaloids amounting to 88.5 mg/kg, which is a value that exceeded the maximum permitted limit (25 mg/kg). CAFIA entered the information into the European Rapid Alert System RASFF.

The inspected person said that all received consignments of poppy seeds were intended for further export to other countries and supported this statement by written documentation.

CAFIA will initiate an administrative procedure on imposition of a fine with the inspected person.

Article by: Mgr. Pavel Kopřiva – CAFIA Spokesperson, phone: +420 542 426 633   

3^rdJuly 2019