• 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

10. FOREIGN RELATIONS

10.1 European integration

Also in 2003, the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority followed the activities of the European Commission in the area of food safety, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), as well as the current development of the European food law. The CAFIA’s experts participated in a number of conferences, workshops and seminars, focused on the problematics of the European food law and the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) in the European Union. Many CAFIA’s staff members were appointed as representatives and deputy representatives in work committees and teams of the European Commission and the Council of EU and participated in their meetings as observers. The CAFIA also followed regularly the duties resulting from the WTO agreements and SPS notifications with respect to food safety, free movement of goods and trade barriers.

EC legislation monitoring

In 2003, the CAFIA also monitored legal regulations of the EC, both the issued regulations and those that have not been passed yet. The corporate intranet was updated on a regular basis with the EC regulations concerning the CAFIA’s activities. In relation to the upcoming accession of the CR to the EU, the CAFIA’s staff underwent training, and a discussion was launched on the intranet about the free goods movement issues. The CAFIA’s experts involved in the area of the EC legislation participated regularly in the meetings of a workgroup under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, dealing with the issues of the so-called non-harmonized sphere of legal regulations, ensuring their compatibility with the basic principles of the EU functioning. They also participated in a workshop on the free goods movement, organized by the TAIEX OFFICE. This workshop was held at the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Prague and was designed for representatives of the public administration of the CR.

EC missions

In the middle of 2003, the third mission of the FVO in the CR for the sphere of pesticides, contaminants and food hygiene took place, aiming at an assessment of the ability of the supervisory bodies to meet the requirements stipulated by the EC legal regulations. Just as in the previous year, the CAFIA’s representatives also took part in this mission to answer the questions of the FVO officers regarding the control system for irradiated foodstuffs, GMO/novel foodstuffs, the RASFF system and import of food of non-animal origin from third countries. The main tasks resulting for the CAFIA from the FVO mission were the completion of legislation transposition, ensured functionality of the notification obligation of all food company operators, continuation of the RASFF system development and definition of responsibilities and procedures for risk assessment management, creation of an inspection system for irradiated food and food of non-animal origin imported from third countries. In these areas, the CAFIA has already undertaken necessary steps and will inform the FVO representatives of them during their next mission to the CR, in January 2004.

During the visit in July, a delegation of DG SANCO senior officers checked not only the fulfilment of the tasks from their previous mission, but also the obligation of food producers and distributors to introduce the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) and the CAFIA’s duty to control the introduction of the HACCP. The DG SANCO representatives were satisfied with the procedures regarding the GMO food and with the finalization of the process of accrediting of the CAFIA’s laboratories.

In July 2003, the TAIEX OFFICE mission also took place, which was organized jointly by the DG SANCO and the DG ENLARGEMENT and focused on the evaluation of the critical control points systems introduced in food production in the CR and education of inspectors in this area.

In September 2003, there was a meeting of the Minister of Agriculture of the CR, Mr. Jaroslav Palas with the Commissioner for health and consumer protection, Mr. David Byrn, which was also attended by the CAFIA representatives headed by the Director General, Mr. Jakub Šebesta. The meeting stated that a large progress had been made in all monitored areas (transposition of “acquis” to the legislation of the CR, implementation of the legislation, control of pesticide residues, issues concerning the processing companies, the RASFF system, etc.)

10.2 Active participation in working parties and committees of the European Commission and the Council of EU

Under the Greek presidency, the CAFIA started to take an active part in the meetings of working parties and committees of the European Commission and the Council of EU, starting from April 2003. By the end of 2003, 19 CAFIA’s experts had been appointed to these working parties and committees and took active part in the discussions as observers on behalf of the Czech Republic. The CAFIA’s experts worked in 26 working parties and committees in total.

The CAFIA recognizes how important these activities are and therefore trains its experts in language skills as well as in the skills of active negotiating. The opportunity for active access to the meetings gave the experts a chance to penetrate fast into the culture of negotiations at these meetings, providing them also with an access to information “from the source” about the intended changes and current development in given areas of food safety, and finally, also a chance to influence directly the results of the decision-making process at a European level in near future. In 2003, the CAFIA’s experts also took an active part in fifteen meetings of working parties and committees, standing committees of the European Commission and the Council of the EU. They participated most frequently in a committee of experts – a working party on agricultural contaminants – and in a regulatory committee of the Commission – a committee for the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin.

The CAFIA also participates weekly in the meetings of the Co-ordination group of the Ministry of Agriculture, which is a co-ordination centre for the approval of positions presented by the CR and the Ministry of Agriculture at the meetings of the working parties and committees of the EU, including COREPER, Special Agricultural Committee and the Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fishery. With the time remaining till the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU, the activities of this group are becoming more and more important to ensure flexible and quality preparation of positions and mandates presented on the European ground.

10.3 International organizations

In 2003, the CAFIA’s representatives participated in the 20th meeting of the FLEP (Food Law Enforcement Practitioners), an informal organization of inspection bodies in the food area in Europe. The CAFIA’s experts took active part in the activities of seven FLEP working parties, namely the working party for pesticides, foodstuff authenticity, interpretation of laboratory testing results, support of other candidate country participation in the FLEP activities, control of non-animal food import, the inspectors’ knowledge level and efficiency of the inspections carried out.

The CAFIA’s representatives also participated in the meeting of the Czech committee for co-operation with the FAO. The CAFIA also co-operated with the MA on the preparation of an international workshop of the FAO, with the theme of “Development of National Food Safety Strategy”. During the workshop, the CAFIA’s specialists presented the system of food inspection utilised by the CAFIA and the RASFF system. Other participants also presented their current national food safety strategies applied in their respective countries. The workshop was a good opportunity to establish informal contacts with the representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture and inspection authorities from the Central and Eastern European countries.

10.4 Bilateral co-operation

In the area of bilateral co-operation, the relationship with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, was strengthened. The CAFIA’s representatives visited the FSAI in May 2003 to get acquainted with the Quality Management System (QMS) applied at the FSAI in compliance with ISO 9001:2000 and to acquire information for the period of implementation and certification of the system for QMS in the CAFIA.

In June 2003, a declaration on co-operation with the Spanish Foreign Trade Inspection and Supervision Office (SOIVRE) was concluded. Based on this declaration, both parties will notify each other about defective deliveries of fresh fruit and vegetables that do not comply with the regulations.

The representatives of the Hungarian General Inspectorate for Consumer Protection (GICP), with whom the CAFIA concluded an agreement on co-operation in 2001, visited the CAFIA to get acquainted with the CAFIA’s activities in the area of food inspection in the Czech Republic.

The CAFIA’s experts visited the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) to gain information on the progress of approving an irradiation facility activity and its inspections, on the inspection plan of irradiated food, sampling methods, irradiated food analysis and principles of detection methods used. This visit was a reaction to the conclusions of the third FVO’s mission to the CR.

In the framework of the Czech-Flemish co-operation, the DIGIT-ROSTLINA project started in 2003, in which representatives of the following institutions participate: KHK Geel – Katholike Hogschool Kempen, University of Agriculture in Prague, representatives of the Union of of Bohemia and Moravia Greengrocers, the CAFIA, and the Dutch FSA – Food Safety Authority. The aim of this co-operation is to create pictorial standards for vegetables to be used by the Czech and Flemish producers, both in vegetable trading and in product classification into quality groups, as well as to train and educate the growers. The project will continue in 2004 and 2005.

10.5 Conferences and seminars

The CAFIA made use of the courses organized by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) and the TAIEX organization. The CAFIA’s representatives participated in several courses organized by the EIPA, concerning the methods of information providing to the public within the structures of the EU, committees and commitology, decision-making processes and negotiations in the European Union, and the mission and activities of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in relation to risk analysis. They will use the experiences gained in these courses as representatives of the Czech Republic in the negotiations in the European Commission and the Council of Europe. A CAFIA’s representative participated in regular meetings of persons responsible for education in the phytosanitary, veterinary and foodstuff areas in the candidate countries (TLO) organized by the TAIEX. The CAFIA representatives also participated in the TAIEX seminar in Ried, Austria, concerning practical implementation and transposition of the EC legislation in the food law area.

In addition to the EIPA and TAIEX courses, the CAFIA representatives also participated in a whole range of international conferences, workshops and seminars regarding laboratory analyses, fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, wine, etc. These included, among other things, e.g. workshops organized by the European Commission - JRC (Joint Research Centre), focusing on the issues of inter-laboratory testing (especially proficiency testing), determination of acrylamide in foodstuffs and measurements around limits.