• 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

12. Conclusion

The year 2002 was very important for the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority for number of reasons, and in particular, because the new Act No. 146/2002, Coll. of L., on the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority, was drawn up, submitted and passed. This new act is in full harmony with legislation of the European Union.

The basic principle of the CAFIA activity rested on – as in the previous year – food control, which is a continual monitoring of compliance with microbiological requirements for foodstuffs and requirements for the compliance with the contaminants contents in foods.  CAFIA also dealt with controls of falsely labelled foodstuffs (“adulterations”) and compliance with other binding requirements stipulated in legislation regulating the release of food and tobacco products in circulation.

In the course of 2002 the total of 22,794 individual inspections were carried out, of which 11,593 were performed in retail trade network; 8, 923 in production premises; 2,179 in wholesale stores and 99 elsewhere.

CAFIA imposed in Administrative Proceedings held in 2002 altogether 2,702 penalties for the violence of legal regulations, which in total amounted to CZK 28,979,100. When assessing the amount of a penalty special account is taken of the serious nature, way, duration and consequences of the particular illegal act.

The non-conforming food and tobacco products represented the total value of CZK 54, 247,446 and CAFIA imposed the total of 17,248 bans on the release of food and tobacco products in circulation. The non-conformances detected in the inspections of production premises reached CZK 8,796,940 and those carried out in trade network reached CZK 45,450,506.   

The activities falling within the sphere of international relations also carried on successfully in 2002. CAFIA took an active part in meetings of the important international institutions and organisations, and participated in a number of specialised seminars and conferences. CAFIA also carried on communication with the European Commission, especially in the arrangements for the Phare project and in the ongoing harmonisation of the Czech food law with the European Union law.

In the course of 2002 CAFIA commenced arrangements for the Phare project that, on one hand, deals with the interconnection of surveillance and other inspection authorities in the Czech Republic in a unified comprehensive information system for food safety and, on the hand, strives for the implementation of Quality Management System in accordance with ISO 9001:2000, which should be certified the following year.

In 2002 CAFIA accomplished work on its new Information System that will unify and entirely interconnect the CAFIA inspection and laboratory activities, ranging from the work of inspectors carried out in the field up to the final evaluation and settlement of the results obtained. 

CAFIA also intensified its communication with the public in the course year. In the middle of 2002 new modernised CAFIA web site was introduced, the Public Relations Unit was consolidated by recruitment of a new personnel and CAFIA commenced reinforcing its Corporate Identity.