Law No. 3548-XIIIms-Xmp “On food loss, food waste reduction and food donation.

This Law regulates relationships concerning prevention, reduction, management of food waste accumulation, food donation and redistribution. The scope of this Law is to prevent and reduce the occurrence of food losses and waste at each stage of the food supply chain, and to encourage food donation, recovery and redistribution. This law provides for the development and implementation of gender-responsive policies and relevant measures for the reduction of food losses and food waste and promotion of food redistribution. The tasks of this Law are: (a) improvement of food security in the country; (b) encouraging the transfer (delivery) of excess food to the beneficiaries and ensuring the availability of safe food for them; (c) promotion of donation, distribution and use of surplus food; (d) reducing and limiting the negative impact on the environment caused by food waste; (e) development and implementation of a gender-responsible policy for the reduction of food losses and food waste; (f) promoting the provision of sufficient and wholesome food to the groups facing the risk of food insecurity and malnutrition; and (g) implementation of gender-sensitive measures to raise the awareness of food supply chain participants, adoption of incentive measures for their promotion and implementation of relevant programs. The following measures are implemented to fulfill the requirements envisaged by this Law: (a) prevention of food losses and the occurrence of its waste at each stage of the food supply chain; (b) donating, restoring and redistributing excess food in accordance with food safety requirements; (c) using excess food as animal feed or processing it into other food or non-food products; (d) recycling of surplus food; and (e) use of excess food for energy production. The Ministry and the legal entity of public law subject to the state control of the Ministry - the National Food Agency are responsible for the implementation of the policy of reducing food losses and its waste within their competence. A food supply chain participant has the right to donate excess food to a food charity/food bank or directly to a beneficiary, if the food is suitable for human consumption and meets the food safety requirements defined by Georgian legislation. The food charity organization/food bank has the right to receive surplus food as a donation, restore it and redistribute it to other food charity organizations/food banks or deliver it directly to the beneficiary, if the food is suitable for human consumption and meets the food safety requirements defined by the legislation of Georgia. Food donation can be made after the expiration of the minimum shelf life of food - ”best before ...” - if it meets the food safety requirements defined by the legislation of Georgia. The rule of food donation and distribution establishes: (a) specific food safety requirements for food distribution, which includes food donation, recovery, storage and distribution; (b) rules and procedures for transferring surplus food to each other by the participants of the food supply chain (list of mandatory information, food accounting, safety, quality, etc.); (c) state control procedures for food that has passed the minimum expiration date - ”it is better to use it before ...”; (d) the list of foods, the use and distribution of which is allowed; (e) food hygiene rules; and (f) other requirements that may be derived from the legislation of Georgia on food safety. Charitable activity with food - giving and distributing food in the form of a donation by handing it over to the beneficiary - can be carried out only in accordance with the procedure established by this law, after authorization. Food charity activities are subject to authorization: (a) a person giving food in the form of a donation; and (b) food charity organization/food bank receiving donated food. The Agency carries out authorization of food charity activities and maintains a database of authorized persons carrying out food charity activities. The rule of authorization of food charity activities is approved by the resolution of the Government of Georgia.