ENSURE UNIFORM APPLICATION OF THE LAW

DRAGANA STIKIĆ

Co-President of the FIC Anti-Illicit Trade & Food Committee (Nestlé Adriatic S d.o.o.)

The work of our committee is devoted to improving the regulatory framework as it relates to the food industry. That's why we continue to focus on implementation of the full harmonisation of Serbian regulations with those of the EU and ensuring the uniform interpretation of regulations

The most recent amendments to the Law on Food Safety, from interpretation and opinion of the Ministry isn't binding for all April 2019, reorganised the division of responsibilities for participants in the control system. inspection oversight between the competent inspectorates Inspection services in some EU countries are part of the Geof the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Mananeral Inspectorate, independent of the Ministries, and their role gement and the Ministry of Health, with which all businesses have is exclusively advisory and control orientated, while the Ministry, been covered, from production and imports, to retail and mass as the lawmaker, has exclusive authority over its interpretation, caterers. Furthermore, the notion of reference laboratories has and control laboratories are entrusted with conducting testing in also been introduced, which are envisaged as being selected by accordance with internationally recognised and confirmed analytical the competent Ministries through contests, and which would permethods. Food safety agencies have been established in the majoform part of the tasks within the rity of EU states and countries competence of the Directorate for of the neighbourhood, and they National Reference Laboratories. It is important to enable the improvement play an important role in ensuWith the legal framework now in place, what needs to of the national system of food control ring the effective application of regulations in food safety practibe in focus when it comes to by learning through the control process se on the ground. In Serbia we achieving these goals are areas and enabling food businesses to employ have an Expert Council for Risk such as transparency, clearly defined roles and responsibiliself-control and establish internal control Assessment, which was formed in April 2017 and comprises 15 ties, consistency in implemensystems in order completely fulfil their experts from various fields, with tation and impartiality, as well as decision-making on the basis of risk analysis and science. role as the most responsible links in the system of ensuring food safety an advisory function. The work of our committee is devoted to improving the regulaThen there's the intensifying of tory framework as it relates to the cooperation and coordination food industry, which is why we between all competent institutions and control bodies, and of continue to focus on implementation of the full harmonisation of course the securing of sufficient resources and their allocation Serbian regulations with those of the EU and ensuring the uniform in such a way that it enables the meeting of the objectives of the interpretation of regulations of all sectors within ministries, as control system. well as uniform applications among different inspection bodies.

In our country there's still a great lack of clarity in terms of Additionally, we see the establishment and implementation of a who's responsible for interpreting regulations, so food business comprehensive risk assessment system by inspection services as an operators are often left in uncertainty, because apart from laboraimportant segment that would direct the limited resources within tories, inspection services and the Ministry itself, as the lawmaker, inspection services towards the testing high-risk products and the often having different interpretations, it also happens that the control of high-risk operators in the food business. ■