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Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection - Information Brochure PDF
Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection - Information Brochure PDF
Quality Inspection
PREFACE
It is my pleasure to give into your hands new edition of the brochure on the Agricultural and
Food Quality Inspection. With this brochure we aim to present concise information on main
responsibilities and activities of the Inspection. The Inspection, responsible to the Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development, has been established on 1 January 2003, however the idea of
food and agricultural products quality control in Poland goes back to the 1930s.
The Inspection fulfills its statutory tasks in professional and impartial manner in order to protect
consumers and food producers interests. This is realized by identifying cases of fraudulent
practices in food sector, preventing unfair competition, as well as promoting food of high quality.
According to recent data, the Inspection carried out almost 13,000 quality inspections in domestic
market and over 90,000 quality inspections at import and export stage yearly.
We identified the following strategic objectives:
counteraction to marketing of agri-food products of improper quality,
securing sustainable development of laboratory analytic potential,
ensuring effective cooperation and participation of Poland in activities of international
organizations and the European Union in the area of setting food standards.
Since its foundation the Inspection promotes improvement in professionalism of human resources
and capacity building aiming to face emerging challenges related to dynamically growing food sector.
I hope the hereby elaboration will meet the expectations, providing useful information about the
Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection.
Stanisaw Kowalczyk
Chief Inspector of Agricultural and Food Quality
LEGAL BASIS
ORGANISATION SCHEME
Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection (AFQI) started its activity on 1 January 2003 under the
national Act of December 21, 2000 on Commercial Quality of Agricultural and Food Products. It was
created on the basis of two inspection bodies: Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection (CIS) and
Inspection for Purchasing and Processing of Agricultural Products (ISiPAR).
ISiPAR
Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection
Inspection for Purchasing and Processing
of Agricultural Products
The Chief Inspector of Agricultural and Food Quality, with the support of the Main
Inspectorate, as the central government authority responsible to the Minister competent for
the agricultural markets;
The Voivod, with support of Voivodeship Inspector of Agricultural and Food Quality, as
supervisor of the Voivodeship Inspectorate, which is a part of the joint provincial administration.
Main Inspectorate,
16 Voivodeship Inspectorates,
6 accredited laboratories.
Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Development
2.
3.
4.
5.
Quality control of agricultural and food products, at production and trading stage, including:
supervision of fruit and vegetable market,
supervision of classification of bovine and porcine carcasses in the EUROP system,
issuing certificates on commercial quality of agricultural and food products,
conducting trainings for experts in the scope of sampling, setting quality classes or method of
production of certain agricultural and food products;
Supervision of organic farming;
Protection of regional and traditional products;
Cooperation with paying agencies in the scope of the Common Agricultural Policy - control
"ex-ante" and control "ex-post";
Coordination of Polish cooperation with international organisations dealing with food and its
marketing.
In addition AFQI supervises wine and fertilizers markets likewise controls conditions of geeses
breeding and fattening. Inspection also conducts certification of hops and hop products and checks
correctness of reporting on market data concerning bovine.
of
Chief Inspector
Agricultural and Food Quality
Deputy Chief Inspector
(2)
Substantial Units
Voivodeship Level
1.
Central level
Main tasks
Voivode (16)
Substantial Units
Central Laboratory in
Poznan +5 Specialized
Laboratories
Substantial Units
Employment in AFQI
In 2013 AFQIs staff consisted of 659 employees
including 32 on managerial positions. 387 employees
were directly involved in the implementation of
statutory tasks, including commercial quality control
of agricultural and food products. 110 employees
worked in laboratories. The remaining 130 persons
were employees of the administration, human
resources, accountancy, legal and IT services.
LABORATORIES
Analyses of agricultural and food products are conducted in 6 official Inspections laboratories:
AFQI laboratories gradually expand analytical capabilities and a range of accredited methodologies.
All Inspections laboratories are accredited by Polish Centre for Accreditation according to PN-EN
ISO/IEC 17025.
Number of accredited methodologies in Inspection laboratories in 2003-2013
1000
900
800
20%
17%
5%
700
600
500
400
300
58%
200
100
0
504
553
604
646
2007
2008
2009
2010
727
811
905
367
142
166
184
2003
2004
2005
2006
2011
2012
2013
laboratory staff
inspectors
executives
other AFQI employees
10
In addition, the AFQIs authorities are competent in providing certification procedure for particular
vintage year and wines from specific grape varieties, as well as monitoring of correct use of
protected designations of origin, geographical indications and traditional wine products.
Implementation of the mentioned tasks assigned to the Inspection as regards supervision of the
wine market ensures that wine products introduced into the market have appropriate quality.
Certification of hops and hop products in Poland
AFQI, under the national Act of December 19, 2003 on Organization of the fruit and vegetables, hops
market, dried fodder market and markets in flax and hemp grown for fibre and respective EU legislation
carries out tasks related to the certification of the hops and hop products.
Certification of hops and hop products includes the following steps:
notification of hop gardens to the register kept by Voivodeship Inspector of Agricultural and
Food Quality,
control of the varietal uniformity of the hop gardens,
packing, weighing and sampling for laboratory tests,
sealing packages of the hops and hop products,
labelling of hops and hop products packages,
issuing certificates for the hops or hop product.
Only appropriately certified hops and hop products and imported hops and hop products
accompanied by equivalence attestations issued in the country of origin can be placed on the
market.
Supervision of beef market prices reporting
AFQI is responsible for supervising of data transfer concerning market prices of bovine to the
Integrated Agricultural Market Information System.
Inspections tasks in this area include checking the following aspects:
accuracy of data used to compile a weekly report from meat establishments documentation
(data related to purchase price of cattle and number of slaughtered animals),
correctness of applied methodology for registration of market data for calculation of purchase
price of cattle.
11
ORGANIC FARMING
Supervision of marketing of bovine meat from cattle aged less than twelve months
AFQI is responsible for supervising of the marketing of veal and young bovine meat which mean
bovine meat from cattle aged less than twelve months.
Inspections tasks in this area include checking the following aspects:
correctness of labelling of the carcasses from bovine animals aged less than twelve months
with category identification letter of "V" or "Z",
correctness of bovine meat labelling of the age of the slaughtered animal accordingly to
allocated category, at each step of production and marketing,
correctness of sale descriptions under which the meat is sold,
correctness of information recording by operators at slaughterhouses and meat processing
establishments.
Control of goose breeding and fattening conditions
AFQI carries out inspections concerning marketing of goose meat, which is labelled with information
on the conditions of production. Goose breeding and fattening conditions are determined by the
European Union legislation and the national regulation on the Young Polish Oats-Fed Geese (Moda
polska g owsiana) trademark developed by the National Poultry Council Polish Chamber of
Commerce.
Inspections tasks in this area include checking the following aspects:
conditions of the goose breeding,
conditions of the goose fattening,
correctness of labelling of packages containing goose meat.
Supervision of fertilizers, fertilizers designated "EC FERTILIZER" and plant conditioners
The Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection plays an important role in the organic farming control
system (established by the Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007). The aim of this quality scheme
is to guarantee the consumers that products marketed as organic were subjected to a system
of control covering all stages of production, preparation and distribution, and procedures, which
confirmed the compliance with the requirements of relevant regulations. At the national level, the
tasks of AFQI, set out in the national Act of 25 June 2009 on organic farming, include:
supervising the control bodies in organic farming and organic production (by conducting audits
of control bodies and carrying out control of operators),
authorising imports of organic farming products from third countries (only till 30.06.2014),
conducting border inspections of organic products from third countries,
organising exams for organic farming inspectors authorised to conduct controls on behalf of
the control bodies and maintaining a register of such inspectors,
collecting, processing, storing and analysing the data on organic operators and making such
data available upon request of an interested party,
authorising operators to use exceptions from the organic production rules under specific
conditions laid down in the Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008, taking over the power
of control body, which authorisation has been withdrawn.
Organic operators in Poland in 2004-2013
30 000
25 000
20 000
12
15 000
10 000
15 206
5000
0
7 182
9 194
17 423
20 956
23 847
26 376
27 203
12 121
3 760
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
13
EX-POST CONTROL
Within the framework of the EU system for registering and protecting the names of regional and
traditional product, Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection carries out checks of conformity of
production process of products with registered protected designation of origin (PDO), protected
geographical indication (PGI) and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) with the specification.
Since 2005, AFQI has been carrying out ex-post controls of Polish beneficiaries, who received
payments from the European Union via the paying agencies. Ex-post control is implemented on
the basis of the national Act of December 21, 2000 on Commercial Quality of Agricultural and Food
Products and in accordance with the Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the
common agricultural policy.
The checks carried out by AFQI confirm the originality of the product, its specific features and high
quality. The control also ensures the protection of agricultural products and foodstuffs with PDO,
PGI or TSG against unfair trade practices.
The purpose of the ex-post control is to confirm whether the transactions carried out by
beneficiaries receiving payments from the European Union have actually been made and if they
were executed correctly. Commercial documents that directly or indirectly relate to the payment
system of the funds are subject to control.
The European Commission registered 36 Polish products in the PDO, PGI and TSG system.
Number of products registered in PDO, PGI and TSG system in the EU countries
(till 15th April 2014)
In 2005-2014, the scope of the controls carried out by AFQI concerned several mechanisms of the
Common Agricultural Policy.
300
In 2005-2014, AFQI audited beneficiaries who received aid from the EU for a total amount of more
then 1 billion EUR.
250
200
Payments received from the EU by Polish beneficiaries of CAP and audited by AFQI
in 2005-2014 (EUR)
264
178
5
Ireland
Cyprus
Latvia
Bulgaria
Romania
Croatia
Estonia
Matla
Luxembourg
Denmark
Finland
Lithuania
Netherlands
Austria
Hungary
Belgium
Slovakia
Slovenia
Czech Rebublic
57 36
10 10
33 19 15 15 15 14 14
Sweden
350 mln
Poland
Greece
Spain
France
Italy
Germany
124 101
78
50
United Kingdom
211
100
Portugal
150
Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection supervises the control bodies authorised by the Minister
competent for agricultural markets.
The minister authorised 5 certifying bodies to carry out controls and to issue and withdraw
certificates confirming that products with registered PDO, PGI and TSG meet the requirements
laid down in the specification.
The tasks of AFQI also include the official control of agricultural products and foodstuffs with
registered PDO, PGI and TSG. Official control ensures that registered names are protected against
any direct or indirect commercial use, any misuse, imitation or evocation, as well as any other
practice liable to mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product.
14
300 mln
250 mln
200 mln
150 mln
100 mln
50 mln
0
15
In 2005-2014 AFQI carried out a total number of 1 572 inspections (planned and cross-checks).
AFQI's involvement in the ex-post control system increase continually each year, due to the
increased participation of Polish beneficiaries in the mechanisms of the internal market.
The Inspection co-operates with the following international bodies dealing with quality and safety
of the food and international trade:
FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (FAO/WHO CAC);
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE);
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Number of the ex-post inspections carried out by AFQI in 2005-2014 (till 15th April 2014)
250
200
The Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection acts as the FAO/WHO Codex Contact Point for
Poland and coordinates Polish cooperation and participation in work of the FAO/WHO Codex
Alimentarius Commission and its more then 20 advisory bodies.
In this respect AFQI carries out consultations with Polish experts from governmental and nongovernmental bodies i.a.: ministries, official food control services, consumers and food industry
associations, scientific institutes, universities.
180
160
140
120
223
100
185
173
80
60
40
20
0
170
130
75
2
2005/2006
15 17
2006/2007
planned controls
cross-checks
106
83
56
33
2007/2008
2008/2009
74
84
97
30
49
25
2009/2010
2010/2011
2011/2012
2012/2013
2012/2013
20
15
10
28
22
5
0
2003
19
16
14
5
2004
18
15
7
2005
13
9
2006
9
5
2007
15
13
2008
16
14
8
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
16
17
On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, in
2013 in Pulawy (Poland), the international conference on Food Safety Risk Analysis Fifty years
with Codex Alimentarius in the European Region was held. The conference constituted a summary
of the Polands four-year work as the FAO/WHO Regional Coordinator for Europe.
Inspection also coordinates Polish co-operation with the Council of the European Union
Working Party on Codex Alimentarius (F. 23). During the Polish Presidency of the Council of the
European Union in the second half of 2011, AFQI was responsible for chairing the work of the
above working group.
Participation of Polish delegates in the meetings
of the Council of the European Union Working Party on Codex Alimentarius (F. 23)
45
40
35
30
25
41
20
32
15
21
10
5
0
2004
19
7
2005
16
10
2006
19
14
6
2007
2008
22
19
8
2009
20
12
2010
21
11
2011
2012
2013
AFQI employees participate actively in the work of various experts groups of the European
Commission related to the scope of competence of the Inspection.
18
19