The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (CAFIA) in cooperation with the Customs Administration of the Czech Republic managed another successful intervention.

Safety is the main priority of all supervisory bodies inspecting foodstuffs. Inspection of allergen labelling comes under this scope as well.

In cooperation with the Customs Authority in Prague, the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority detained a consignment of almonds originating from the USA. The consignment was detained on the borders. The reason for this was the content of aflatoxins exceeding fivefold the limits. The consignment weighing 9,5 tons contained 420 packages of natural shelled almonds.

The Czech Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority received by the means of the EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed the information that another foodstuff with proved excessive amount of melamine was distributed to our territory.

The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority is one of the bodies involved in the Radiation Monitoring Network in the CR controlled by the State Office for Nuclear Safety which is responsible for monitoring the occurrence of radiation both in the environment and the whole food chain.

The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority managed another intervention against dangerous foodstuffs. More than a month has passed since a food supplement with the disallowed substance tadalafil has been revealed and the inspection had to solve three other similar cases.

The biggest number of inspections is carried out by the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (CAFIA) directly in the shops. In case of foodstuffs of plant origin also production, transport and import from third countries are controlled. Within the scope of import control the CAFIA inspectors carry out inspection both directly at the border and on the domestic market in the premises of importers.

The advance in scientific research, innovation development and also globalization caused that consumers may come across foodstuffs with which they had not been familiar so far. As early as 1997, the European Union prescribed an approval procedure for novel foods that they have to undergo before they are first introduced on the market.

Since September of the previous year, the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority has been carrying out inspections focused on foodstuffs originating from China because of possible occurence of melamine.

The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority continues in increasing efficiency of its control activities. This results in gradual reduction of administration connected with supervision, increasing the effectivity of the information system where all data is entered, as well as permanent accent on training of inspectors. Activities carried out in 2008 reflect such effort