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Communication with the general public (or with consumers) is governed by the Act on Free Access to Information (No. 106/1999, Coll. of L.) that came into force on January 1, 2000. CAFIA provides information referring to majority fields of its activities (with the exception of personal data, etc.).

CAFIA communicates with consumers openly and on regular basis and that either directly (by providing responses to specific questions, consultations on specific problems or investigation of suggestions for an inspection) or indirectly (mainly through the CAFIA web sites). On the occasion of important food fairs (e.g. The International Fair of Gastronomy held in Brno, etc.) CAFIA sets up its own information point for consumers.

The most efficient form of proving information is the regular contact with a large spectrum of media that CAFIA furnishes with information on the results of inspections and other activities in the regularly published press releases. In the case of significant and extraordinary occasions (identification of food in the market presenting risk to public health, results of inspection important for consumers, etc.), CAFIA organises press conferences. The CAFIA experts write educational articles relating to food for consumer columns in daily papers and technical magazines, or they participate in talks on similar subjects arranged in electronic media (radio and TV).

The well-established practice in CAFIA is a daily monitoring of press. Articles, reports and interviews are loaded into the intranet where they are available to all CAFIA employees. In parallel, they serve as feedback for the survey of consumer interest in a specific subject from the area of food control. The good cooperation with media has turned to be a success. CAFIA takes their information as one of the basis for the inspection planning or as suggestions to be verified.

There was evident increase of interest in the food safety issues and healthy nutrition from the records of questions asked by consumers and from the press monitoring carried out in the past two years. The outcome of survey arranged by IVVM (Institute for the Research of Public Opinion) that was held in June 2001, confirmed rising confidence of consumers in the authorities involved in the official food control. This outcome relates - apart from other things - to the rising consumer awareness.

CAFIA has established a new department of public relations (3 persons) at the date of 2002-03-01 whose task will consist in setting up better contacts with consumers and media.

CAFIA web sites: www.czpi.cz

CAFIA aims to publish the maximum possible number of information about its activities on its own web sites. They contain important information about nonconforming food, press releases, newly issued laws and decrees, inform the producers about CAFIA approach to inspections in specific areas (GMO, wine, bio-food…) and about objects of interest and provide recommendations for consumers.

Based on the results of survey, the CAFIA web sites are intensively visited by the general public (businessmen, journalists, students and small consumers). At the date of 13 February 2002 about 31,096 persons visited CAFIA web sites. A significant increase of visitors is always associated with the CAFIA press conferences ( Press Releases) or with published information regarding the detection of food harmful to public health ( Unsafe Foodstuff).

The records still reveal an outlasting great interest in the list of legal regulations, list of E-codes, information on harmful food, recommendations and professional articles for the consumers. Among the most often visited files are: How to protect from nonconforming food in retail trade network; What can tell the food packaging; Hypersensitivity to food; CAFIA's approach to genetically modified food; Food Adulterations and 3-MCPD detected in soy sauce. As to the new information published, the visitors were mainly interested in articles called Microbial agents of alimentary diseases and Heavy metals in the environment and their influence on human body.

Since 2001, consumers can submit their suggestions for inspections through the CAFIA web sites directly to the individual Regional Inspectorates ( Write us - Comments to www).

Within the scope of Agris project that ensured evaluation www servers used for conducting a business in the agrarian sector, the CAFIA web sites were highly valued.

In 2002 the CAFIA web sites will be upgraded and more clearly arranged.

Information provided in conformity with Section 18, par. 1 of the Act on a Free Access to Information (No. 106/1999 Coll. of L.)