The food safety system in Georgia
Food safety regulations in Georgia are built on the Code covering the safety of food and animal feed, veterinary affairs and plant protection. The purpose of the Code is the protection of human life and health, of consumer interests, of animal health and welfare and of plant health, the definition of unified principles of state regulation in these fields, and the formation of an effective system of state control. The regulation extends to production, processing and distribution on the territory of Georgia, to primary production, to veterinary preparations, pesticides and agrochemicals, while controls linked to the customs border operate together with the Customs Code and other normative acts. If you operate on the food market, the requirements of this Code are your everyday legal environment.
What counts as harmful food and who decides
Article 11 of the Code sets out the foundational rules. Food placed on the market must satisfy the food safety requirements defined by Georgian legislation, and placing harmful food on the market is impermissible. Food is considered harmful if it endangers human life or health, or if it is not fit for human consumption. When safety is assessed, account must be taken of compliance with the requirements for production, processing, distribution and primary production; of the possibility of the final consumer using the food according to its intended purpose; of any information supplied to the consumer, including on the label, to avoid harmful effects; of not only the possible immediate, short-term or long-term effect of the food on the consumer but also its effect on subsequent generations; of possible cumulative toxic effect; and, for food intended for a special category of consumers, of the level of its impact on the health of that category.
The batch rule is particularly important: if food is harmful, the entire batch is considered harmful unless detailed inspection confirms that the remaining part of the batch satisfies the safety requirements. The costs of the inspection are reimbursed by the business operator. At the same time, formal compliance with legislatively defined requirements gives no absolute guarantee: where a justified suspicion exists, the Agency is authorized to restrict or prohibit the placing of the food on the market and to demand its withdrawal from the market.
Registration and recognition as a business operator
Under Article 13 of the Code, a business operator must register the relevant activity in the Register of Economic Activities and, upon starting the activity, stopping it or changing registered data, apply to the National Agency of the Public Registry. Operating without registration is prohibited. The production and processing of food of animal origin, the production and market placement of animal feed and the sphere of plant protection are subject to mandatory recognition, which the Agency carries out based on the results of inspection. Household production, primary production, traditional methods, highland regions and certain small business cases are excluded, so the first step is always the correct classification of your specific activity.
The hazard analysis and critical control point system
Article 17 of the Code obliges a food business operator to have implemented food safety procedures based on the principles of the hazard analysis and critical control point system. The principles of that system are: identification of any hazard for the purpose of its prevention, elimination or reduction to an appropriate level; determination of critical control points at the stages where control is necessary; establishment of critical limits at those points; implementation and carrying out of effective monitoring; definition of corrective actions for the case where monitoring establishes that a critical control point exceeds the established limit; development of procedures for the regular verification of these actions; and the keeping of records about all of them. Whenever the food, any stage of production or the process changes, the operator must make the corresponding changes in the system as well.
At the same time, the system is not mandatory for the business operator carrying out primary production, while the types of production and processing for which implementation is mandatory are determined by a decree of the Government of Georgia. This means that the boundaries of your responsibility must be determined precisely by that decree and not by guesswork.
Operator obligations in the sphere of safety
Article 18 of the Code directly regulates the operator's daily conduct. Within the framework of its activity, a business operator must ensure the compliance of food or animal feed with the requirements of the Code and of the relevant legislation at the stages of production, processing and distribution. If it has a justified suspicion that food it has imported, produced, processed, distributed or placed on the market does not comply with the safety requirements, it must immediately take measures to prevent its placement on the market or to withdraw the food already placed on the market; where such food has been supplied to the final consumer, the operator must effectively provide the consumer, in an understandable form, with complete information about the reasons for the withdrawal, and if the measures taken are insufficient to protect health, it must recall the food supplied to the consumer.
If the Agency has a justified suspicion that the food is harmful, the business operator must, following the Agency's instruction, immediately take measures to prevent placement on the market, to withdraw the food from the market and, where necessary, to recall the food supplied to the consumer. In the cases provided for by this article the operator must immediately notify the Agency in writing about the measures taken. It is precisely this documentation that often becomes the subject of dispute during inspection, which is why its accuracy has practical significance.
Frequently Asked Questions
We answer the most frequent questions about food safety requirements below.
When is food considered harmful and what happens to the whole batch?
Food is harmful if it endangers human life or health or is unfit for consumption. Where food is harmful, the entire batch is treated as harmful unless detailed inspection proves the opposite, and the operator reimburses the costs of that inspection.
Who must implement the hazard analysis and critical control point system?
The food business operator, who must have safety procedures based on the principles of this system. For primary production it is not mandatory, and the types of activity for which it is required are determined by a government decree.
What duty arises for the operator on a justified suspicion?
The operator must immediately prevent the food from being placed on the market or withdraw it, give consumers understandable information about the reasons, recall it where necessary and immediately notify the Agency in writing of the measures taken.
Can formally compliant food still be withdrawn from the market?
Yes — formal compliance is no guarantee: on a justified suspicion the Agency may restrict or prohibit placing the food on the market and demand its withdrawal.
How We Help on Legal.ge
We assist in assessing the application of safety requirements to your products, in the legal support of implementing the hazard analysis and critical control point system, in registration and recognition procedures, and in responding to Agency instructions and withdrawal decisions. Every recommendation rests on the exact norms of the Code.