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Starting from 20 June 2002 the Czech exporters can apply the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority for an official certificate for the fresh fruit and vegetables exported to all countries of the European Union. It has been made possible, thanks to a new directive of the European Commission (EC No. 902/2002), to acknowledge the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority to serve as the Official Czech Certification Body. It means for the Czech exporters of fruit and vegetables that they will be able to apply CAFIA for a particular certificate for each consignment exported to any EU country. Incidentally, the exporters could have applied for it so far, but starting from tomorrow the certificate will become an EC officially acknowledged instrument that will be accepted by all competent customs and inspections authorities in the Union, and as such, the exporters' foreign business partners should also accept it. Fruit and vegetables, with a CAFIA certificate, will become a commodity for the European authorities complying with the required EU standards.

The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority has currently at disposal 35 professionally trained inspectors who are authorised to issue these certificates.

The European Commission has taken into account, while approving CAFIA as the certification authority, the stage of harmonisation of the appropriate legislation. The Czech national standards regarding fresh fruit and vegetables are now fully harmonised with the EEC/UN standards, only revisions of a few of them are to be completed.

Monitoring of pesticides in fruit and vegetables has also been grounded in the previous three years, apart from other things, on the European Union recommendations related to the monitoring. In accordance with this recommendation the member states carry out testing every year of the selected types of pesticides on samples of the specified foodstuffs. Fresh fruit and vegetables have been the main issue of monitoring in the EU member countries during the previous years and, within the framework of progressing negotiations on the Chapter on Agriculture, the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority has now been sending its results of monitoring to Brussels for two years.

The exporters interested in obtaining the certificate for export of fresh fruit and vegetables can - as before - contact their respective local CAFIA inspectorate. They are listed, together with specification of their respective addresses, at the CAFIA web site.