Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 1 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 1.Food quality and safety 1.1.One of the key problems of the Hungarian agro-food economy is the establishment and operation of an upgraded food quality and safety system. The great significance of quality in meeting consumer’s requirements and of safety ensuring consumer’ health are becoming more and more complicated.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 2 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 1. Food quality and safety 1.2. Quality refers to positive attributes such as sensory characteristics, nutritional value which influences consumer preferences and choices. Safety is based on a risk analysis approach with emphasis on traceability and the principle of responsibility for safe food and feed production.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 3 2. Frequency of inspection 2.1 Quality and safety characterisitics of feed and food were always measured by several authorities in Hungary having responsibility to control pesticide residues, animal health problems, processing and storage conditions. Before political-economic changes in 1990 most food products on the market were investigated according to the annual plans of action at least 4-5 times. Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 4 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 2. Frequency of inspection 2.2. In the centrally planned economy there were only 5000 food items on the market, therefore they were sampled, investigated and evaluated for government purposes. Today the frequency of inspection is decreased on the half, whereas approximately thousand food items are presented on the market.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 5 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 2. Frequency of inspection 2.3. Control activities are divided between public and private institution and there is a trend to increase the number of private laboratories and their activity to food quality and consequently to focus the activity of public laboratories to food and feed safety control.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 6 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 3. Use of sampling and analysis – accreditation of laboratories 3.1. Food quality is a value inducing factor and both public authorities and consumer’s associations are involved in controlling food products. Food safety is the prerequisite for products competing with each other on the market. Safety is a central element in the whole food production chain „from the farm to the fork”and refers to all hazards which make food injurious to the health of the consumer.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 7 3. Use of sampling and analysis – accreditation of laboratories 3.2. The Hungarian government has responsibility in that the most effective policy and control arrangements are in place. Local authorities in Hungarian cities have skilled personnel and suitable equipments for food sampling and analysis in their laboratories, but consumer groups have a lack of means and methods, especially in microbiology and toxicology. Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 8 3. Use of sampling and analysis – accreditation of laboratories 3.3. Accreditation of several laboratories participating in the official control through the food chain has been done by the National Accreditation Board, but few laboratories involved in export-import activities were accredited by international bodies. Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 9 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 4. Documented procedures 4.1. Free market means guarantees and responsibilities, where the right of human beings to healthy life is extended to their food and drink to be supplied as nutritionally adequate and safe. Consumers must be protected from health hazards and risks, which can occur in imported or domestic food products. The role of government can be formulating legislation, promoting and monitoring compliance and taking regulatory action in cases of serious violation of the rules.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 10 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 4. Documented procedures 4.2. Official control activities are well documented in Hungary, including electronic registration of land parcels involved in food and feed production, list of active farmers and manufacturers, data banks of animals, plants and microorganisms used in production and commerce. This procedures are generally harmonized with EU especially in branches of agriculture and industry with high export-import activities.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 11 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 5. Reorganisation and coordination 5.1. After dismantling of the previous regime and centrally planned economic system a chance was given to Hungary to create an up-to-date food regulation system. Projects were carried out with specific objectives and activities at strenghtening food control systems and needed changes in infrastructure. However, the Hungarian food and feed control system is very fragmented and divided among different ministries and institutions involved in official control.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 12 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 5. Reorganisation and coordination 5.2. The establishment of the Hungarian Office for Food Safety in 2003 has given a new chance to reorganise and co-ordinate the activities of different authorities and laboratoires.The new Food Law issued by the Hungarian Parliament in October 2003 and in force at the time of accession in May 2004 is the core element for joint activities in food control.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 13 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 6. Community guidelines for official control 6.1. Food control assistance at the country level focuses not only on government and local food control officials, but also on food producers, processors and retaliers at all level of the food chain. Improved food quality and safety, better consumer protection can only be assured when industry based food control systems assume proper food handling from the producers to the consumer in the food chain.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 14 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 6. Community guidelines for official control 6.2. Through the development and documentation of the quality assurance system and the careful application of the HACCP principles at company level the confidence for the products will grow in the market. Community guidelines for official controls are published in Official Journals and edited in the Hungarian Food Code (Codex Alimentarius Hungaricus).

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 15 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 6. Community guidelines for official control 6.3. Internationally used best practices like GMP, GLP, GHP are published and disseminated by several Hungarian public and private institutions, whereas GAP and GTP are less known by organisations in agriculture and retail.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 16 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 7. Reports on consultations 7.1. The Government of Hungary in close co-operation with several institutions of the EU was organising consultations and in site visits for officials involved in food and feed control activities. Reports on consultations at Government and authority level were reported and evaluated on both sides.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 17 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 7. Reports on consultations 7.2. Critical observations of the Food and Veterinary Organisation of the EU were considered as valuable and useful in this context. This type of co-operation was generally well accepted for the clear description of the situation and the guidance related to future improvement.

Lecture held on the Food Safety Conference March 2004 Dublin 18 Control Methods and Organisation of Official Controls in Hungary Dr. Peter A. BIACS, Hungarian Office for Food Safety 8. Conclusion We appreciate very much this helpful approach and attitude in which a succesful harmonisation of methods and organisation were carried to us. This enables to all participants of the official food and feed control activities to improve their work and upgrade conditions for better understanding each other and more effective co-operation.