Sanitary inspection is the core of the state-control system in the sphere of food safety: inspection is the only mechanism carried out without prior warning to the business operator. On this page we explain the types of state control, the six mechanisms and the principles under which the authorized person works — so that your enterprise's readiness is assessed in the correct frame.
Types of State Control
The law defines three types: food/animal-feed safety control, which serves to determine compliance with safety and labelling requirements and with the requirements for supplying information to the consumer; veterinary control, which determines compliance with requirements in the sphere of veterinary medicine; and phytosanitary control, covering phytosanitary requirements in plant protection. The three types are three directions of one system.
Inspection — Without Prior Warning
The mechanisms of state control are six: inspection, monitoring, supervision, documentary check, sampling and audit. Inspection stands apart: during it, individual aspects of the production, processing and distribution stages of food are examined to determine compliance with requirements and rules, without prior warning to the business operator. Inspection includes checking the operator's activity at those stages, a documentary check and, by the established procedure, the taking of samples with examinations in an accredited laboratory. The agency may delegate individual tasks to a controlling body — on condition of a precise description of the tasks and the body's impartiality and freedom from conflict of interest; the controlling body must be accredited by the corresponding body of Georgia or of a member country of the European Union or the OECD.
Monitoring and the Annual Program
Monitoring consists of pre-planned observations and measurements carried out within the annual program of state control. In developing the program the following factors must be taken into account: cases in previous years of food poisonings, intestinal infections, epidemics and other mass food-borne diseases among the population and animals; cases of microbiological, chemical or physical contamination; cases of environmental pollution; and cases of deceiving and misleading consumers. Within monitoring, samples are taken and laboratory examinations conducted, labels and presentation and storage conditions are checked, and documentary checks are performed. This means that an enterprise's risk history directly determines how often attention turns to it — preparation for the control year begins with an analysis of one's own incidents in past years.
Supervision, Audit, Documents and Sampling
Supervision is observation of the business operator's activity — including the destruction of food, the prevention of placement on the market, withdrawal from the market and from the consumer, and the performance of the agency's instructions. A documentary check proceeds independently or together with other mechanisms. Sampling is carried out to examine organoleptic, microbiological, parasitological, toxicological, physico-chemical and radiological indicators — during inspection, supervision or monitoring, or independently. Audit applies to procedures introduced in line with the principles of good hygiene practice and the hazard-analysis and critical-control-points system, and determines the conformity of the operator's actions with its planned measures and the effectiveness of those measures. In the veterinary sphere the same mechanisms carry their own content: inspection includes the assessment of the animal's health and welfare and the identification of animals; supervision covers the pre-slaughter and post-slaughter processes, quarantine measures, measures against contagious and mass non-contagious diseases, the destruction of falsified and expired veterinary preparations, and the movement and driving of animals. These details show that one and the same mechanism means different practical actions in different spheres, and an enterprise's readiness must be planned accordingly.
The Principles of the Authorized Person
State control rests on five principles: professional independence — work free of the influence of interested groups; objectivity — reliability and impartiality in preparing conclusions and assessments; reliability — correctly, precisely and consistently, by the procedure established by the legislation; confidentiality — protection of any information connected with the business operator, whose use for non-professional purposes or unlawful dissemination is prohibited; and integrity — a fair and impartial relationship with the operator. The confidentiality requirement does not extend to the case where it is confirmed that food placed on the market is dangerous to human life — there, informing takes precedence over protection. For an enterprise, knowledge of these principles works both ways: they define both the boundary of the inspector's conduct and your own expectations — and a ready enterprise answers within the same frame, precisely and in writing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below we answer the most frequent questions about sanitary inspection.
Which mechanism proceeds without warning?
Inspection — the study of the production, processing and distribution stages without prior warning to the business operator.
What determines the frequency of monitoring?
The annual program of state control — it takes into account prior cases of poisonings, contamination and consumer deception.
What does supervision include?
Observation of destruction, prevention of placement on the market, withdrawal and the performance of the agency's instructions.
May control be delegated?
Yes — on condition of precisely described tasks and the impartiality of the controlling body; the body must be accredited.
When is confidentiality breached?
When it is confirmed that food placed on the market is dangerous to human life.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team helps enterprises navigate the state-control system: we explain which mechanism is subject to which condition, prepare internal procedures for an inspection and protect the business operator's rights in relations with the authorized person. Write to us on Legal.ge — your enterprise will meet control prepared.