Product recall — the withdrawal of food from the market and its recall from consumers — is the practical expression of the emergency measures and crisis management system. When food or animal feed contains a serious risk to human or animal health, the state agency immediately selects an appropriate measure, and the business operator must account for it. On this page we explain how the emergency measures regime works, what the crisis management plan provides, and what liability follows from placing expired food on the market.
Emergency measures regarding local food
Where it is substantiated that food or animal feed contains a serious risk to human or animal health and cannot be avoided by existing means and resources, the agency must, taking into account the gravity of the situation, take measures in the manner established by law. Regarding products of local origin this means: suspending the placing of the food on the market for a definite period; timely informing the population about temporarily refraining from consumption; defining special requirements regarding food identified as carrying high risk on the basis of risk analysis; or taking other appropriate emergency measures provided by law. Beneath these measures lies what is popularly called a product recall: removal from the market and communication to the consumer.
Emergency measures regarding imported food
Regarding imported food or feed, the agency may suspend import for a definite period from the exporting country or any part of it — and, where necessary, from the transit country as well; define special requirements in relation to the exporting country, its region, or the transit country; and adopt other appropriate temporary measures. This matters to importers: a reputational problem in the exporting country may translate into the suspension of your own consignment.
The crisis management plan
The systemic response to crises is planned in advance: the agency develops a crisis management plan in the spheres of food safety, veterinary medicine, and plant protection, and submits it for approval to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture. The plan specifically defines the risk level whose prevention, elimination, or reduction to an acceptable level involves particular difficulties, and the list of actions and measures necessary for managing the crisis — including establishing a crisis management group, observing the principles of transparency and proportionality, and providing information to consumers.
In a crisis situation a crisis management group is created, in whose work representatives of scientific circles participate to provide scientific consultation. The group must collect and assess all available information and identify variants of action, so that risks to human and animal life and health, to plant health, and to the environment are eliminated, reduced, and prevented in a timely and effective manner. The group is entitled to seek assistance from any person whose knowledge and experience is needed for effective crisis management — including business operators, who hold the most accurate data about their own products.