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European Union Gives Priority to Food Safety

06/29/2001
 
For the first time representatives of the control bodies monitoring food safety both in the member and candidate countries of the European Union met at a conference held in Dublin, Ireland, last week. The main topic of the international conference was dedicated to the securing of food safety in the Single European Market. The conference was organised jointly by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and was visited by about a hundred representatives from 30 countries all around world, including the representatives of the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority.

The participants in the conference came to an agreement that the Single World Food Market is determined by a single system of food safety control and transparency of the results of inspections in the individual countries. The European Food Policy will focus, in the future, exclusively on the production of healthy foodstuffs based on the consumer needs and demand. The control mechanisms applied in all European countries will have to meddle in the entire food chain, including the food production in farms, their processing and distribution, and last but not least retail sale to consumers. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), that the CAFIA has been sustaining intensive expert and personal contacts with for a few years, will serve as a model system.

A part of the discussion was also devoted to the future European Food Authority (EFA), which should be established already in the course of the next year. EFA will assess potential risks that arise from the launching of specific foodstuffs in the market, and in the first place, it will communicate with the consumers. There is a good chance that also experts from the candidate countries, including the Czech Republic, will be able to participate in the activities performed by EFA even prior to their admission to the European Union. The final press conference that was held between the representatives of WHO, FSAI, the Swedish National Food Administration, delegates from Estonia, Poland and Malta, was also visited by a delegate of the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority.


Author: RNDr. Daniela Kolejková - 55344 CSc. - Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority