Comprehensive Strategy and Legislative Approximation Programme in Food Safety

The Comprehensive Strategy and Legislative Approximation Programme in Food Safety is a national sectoral strategic document of Georgia. The main objective of the document is to further develop legal and institutional framework in the food safety area and establish a solid food safety system in Georgia in line with the EU and international standards.
The Strategy aims to ensure and maintain adequate level of food security through the implementation of food safety legislation taking into account its possible impact on food security of vulnerable parts of the population. Based on the above mentioned, the aim of the Strategy is to find a proper balance between developing a solid food safety system and possible social impact of the food safety regulations. Additionally, other main objectives of the document include analysing the existing legislative and institutional framework and identifying possible shortcomings and needs; describing the steps, Government of Georgia intends to take in order to introduce a solid food safety system in Georgia; outlining principles and priorities by which the establishment of such a system should be guided; identifying the needs, goals and challenges, associated with implementation of each component of the food safety system; and introducing timelines and stages in which the implementation should be ensured. For this purposes the Strategy is accompanied by the Legislative Approximation Programme. The noted objectives are based on the principles such as: approximation of food safety system in Georgia with relevant EU legislation, while taking into account specific characteristics of the Georgian agricultural market structure; creation of competitive and dynamic agricultural sector in Georgia; official control based on the ‘from farm to fork’ principle, which means that it will cover the whole chain from farm level to the final consumer; adequate level of consumer protection; a gradual horizontal implementation of food safety regulations in such a way that sufficient adjustment period is provided to both state institutions and private sector; and a product by product approach to approximation of the relevant vertical EU legislation.
In order to involve relevant government institutions and agencies in the drafting process of the Strategy and Legislative Approximation Programme an Inter-agency Working Group was created by the decision of the EU Integration Commission. The Working Group is chaired by the Minister of Agriculture. According to the document, the Strategy is a living document and may be updated in the course of its implementation. The Working Group may elaborate further amendments to the document, taking into consideration the experience gained in the process of the implementation as well as changing realities on the ground and in the international context.