Food Safety Policy 2019-2025.

This Policy is a national policy with a cross-sectoral approach. The timeframe of the policy is 7 years between 2019 and 2025. The objectives of this Policy are: (I) strengthening food safety and quality management in compliance with international food safety requirements, (II) improving the provision of safe and quality food to the population, thereby significantly reducing foodborne illnesses, (III) increasing the competitiveness and export potential to foreign markets by improving food safety and quality, (IV) strengthening control measures for agrochemicals, plant protection products and veterinary drugs used in agriculture, as well as awareness-raising on their proper use, (V) strengthening the enforcement of the legislation on food safety, (VI) developing public control mechanisms to ensure food safety and consumer protection on the basis of best practices, (VII) ensuring animal and plant health in accordance with international best practices, and finally (VIII) supporting the entities operating in the food business.
Due to the adverse impacts of foodborne illnesses on public health and welfare and the economy, this Policy underlines the importance of food safety in the fields of development, healthy future generations, protection of the human gene pool, as well as, in ensuring economic efficiency. In compliance with the farm-to-fork approach of FAO, this Policy gives emphasis on the strengthened food safety and quality control along the entire food chain. To this end, the powers of the Food Safety Agency in the fields of scientific and risk-based food inspection and monitoring will be strengthened. Food safety and quality management will be strengthened by 2025 and the expected outputs of this Policy in the last implementation year are (I) harmonization of food safety norms with the existing international requirements, (II) increasing the accuracy of food safety and minimum quality indicators laboratory analysis to 95%, (III) reducing the number of cases of food poisoning, (IV) increasing export of food and agricultural products, including markets of developed countries, (V) minimizing the cases of rejection of consignment of exported food and agricultural products by the importing countries, (VI) minimizing public health concerns due to zoonotic diseases and misuse/overuse of plant protection products, (VII) developing fundamental and applied research on food safety, (VIII) increasing the application of advanced food safety management systems to 90 per cent in large enterprises and 50 per cent in medium enterprises, and (IX) increasing the level of satisfaction of entrepreneurs operating in the food and agriculture sectors with the control and regulatory activities. In order to meet veterinary-sanitary and sanitary-epidemiological requirements, the establishment of private slaughter and sale centers will be supported. A single electronic information system on food safety will be established by the Food Safety Agency. Moreover, capacity building on healthy and rational nutrition will be strengthened in order to ensure consumer protection.
This Policy has been drafted in accordance with the requirements and advices of FAO, WHO, Codex Alimentarius Commission, IPPC, and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and its implementation will be monitored accordingly.