National Strategy for the improvement of animal origin food facilities for the period from 2016 to 2021.

This National Strategy for the improvement of food facilities is aimed at enabling the subject here listed to fulfill new legal requirements and to enjoy equal and competitive inclusion in national, European and world markets. The final scope is also identified as a general improvement of overall food hygiene and food safety, as the European Union indicates.
This National Strategy for the improvement of food facilities of the Republic of Serbia, here programmed for the period from the year 2016 until 2021 is thematically divided into five basic parts: introductory considerations and essential information on strategic, legal and institutional frameworks; state of facilities dealing with food of animal origin; objectives and measure for the improvement of such facilities present on the national territory; mechanisms for implementation of the National Strategy; and content of the action plan for the implementation of this Strategy. The national programme, which will be adopted on the basis of this Strategy, shall contain the list of regulations that need to be harmonized with EU legislation in the field of food hygiene and animal welfare; shall take actions to begin the process of improving food facilities; shall determine specific facilities and sites object of measures for the improvement; shall organize and perform training programmes for special inspection teams; shall arise the awareness about the processes object of this improvement strategy.
General objectives of this text are: achieving to a high level protection of human health, as well as protection of consumer interests; ensuring hygiene standards for food to be met in terms of safety and quality; meeting general requirements of EU food hygiene premises as well as all specific requirements relating to food of animal origin and animal welfare; compliance with EU requirements in the field of environmental protection, including protection against adverse effects of production and processing of food of animal origin; preparing the food production sector for accession and integration into the EU market, as well as for the adoption of World Trading Organization rules.
Specific objectives are: improvement of hygiene conditions in facilities handling food of animal origin; smooth implementation of EU rules and standards, with the consensus and cooperation of all stakeholders; improvement of the protection of human, animal and environmental health; increase of overall competitiveness of products in domestic and international markets; promotion and awareness raising at all levels; improvement and maintenance of knowledge and competence in the field of food safety; preservation of traditional methods of production for food business operators with small capacity or in small facilities.