Objective of this inspection (it took place in July 1999) was to verify how importers of fresh fruit and vegetables comply with an obligation arising from the Food Law to issue a written declaration of conformity on the basis of certificates issued by an inspection body in the country of origin.

The CAFIA inspectors carried out controls of documentation referring to 484 batches of fruit and vegetables (delivery notes, invoices, certificates issued in the country of origin and declarations of conformity).

Altogether 113 batches were detected without a certificate (this is 23.3 % of the inspected number of batches). A written declaration of conformity was not issued for 46 batches and for 67 batches a written declaration of conformity was issued without a particular certification available.

Drawbacks in certificates or missing certificates were mostly detected in goods coming from Slovakia. Inspections carried out in larger business entities were without major drawbacks.