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This field of activities includes inspections carried out the retail establishments and wholesale warehouses.

The system of inspections performed in the retail establishments underwent a great change in 2001. The change consisted mainly in the systematic inspections carried out in hypermarkets of the big shopping chains that have their premises all over the territory of the CR. The main reason for such an organisation of the inspections was the fact that the big shopping chains had lately become (in terms of the quantity of food sold) the most important retail establishments selling food in the Czech Republic.

Inspections in smaller shops as well as sampling for the laboratory analyses were performed on the basis of a plan of inspections compiled in the individual Regional Inspectorates.

The high number of inspections in the retail establishments was also performed on the basis of complaints and suggestions of consumers. In most cases when CAFIA carried out an inspection on the basis of a complainant notification, the compliance with other requirements was inspected, too, in addition to the subject of a complaint itself.

From the perspective of the requirements laid down in the legal regulations, inspections carried out in the retail establishments focused on the observance of selling hygiene, on equipment of the shops in dependence on the food assortment offered, and on respecting the minimum-use-dates and minimum durability dates, adequacy of labelling, packing and shipping documents delivered with the goods, etc. Within the scope of the warehousing conditions control, the inspectors focused on the compliance with the temperature regimes set for the storage of refrigerated and frozen food, as well as on other foodstuffs with fixed temperatures in terms of their putting into circulation.

With respect to control of the individual food commodities, inspections in the retail establishments focused mostly on fresh fruit and vegetables, meat products, dairy products, wine, liquors, bakery products, pastries and cold meals.

Inspections carried out in wholesale warehouses focused especially on the imported food and on additional examinations of nonconforming food samples identified in the retail establishments.