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Poland
Codex Contact Point
Codex Contact Point for Poland, Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection, International Cooperation Department, 98, Aleje Jerozolimskie 00-807 Warsaw Tel: +48 22 255 7 931
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.ijhars.gov.pl
National legislation on food safety: FAOLEX

Competent authorities

Name of authority
1. Ministry of Health/ State Sanitary Inspection
2. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development / Veterinary Inspection
3. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development / State Health and Seed Inspection Service
4. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development / Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection
Aggregated detailed overview of the Food Control System in Poland is available here: https://ec.europa.eu/food/audits-analysis/country/profile/details/PL
Mandate/competence
1. The State Sanitary Inspection (SSI) - https://www.gov.pl/web/gis Within the Ministry of Health, the State Sanitary Inspection, under the Chief Sanitary Inspector, is responsible for controls on food of plant origin and shares responsibility with the Veterinary Inspection on certain controls on the food of animal origin. The Minister of Health is coordinator of the food safety in Poland. SSI carries out public health tasks by supervising diseases control, food and nutrition safety, environmental hygiene, health promotion and other issues related to public health. In particular it is responsible for fulfilling tasks as follows: official control of foodstuffs hygiene, pesticide residues in food, contaminants in food, import of food of non-animal origin, materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, food additives, GMO in food, food supplements and novel food, fortified food, food for special medical purposes, food intended for young children and infants, total diet replacement for weight control, nutrition and health claims, irradiation. Moreover the SSI acts as the national contact point for the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) established according to the EU General Food Law (EU regulation no 178/2002).
2. The tasks of the Veterinary Inspection - https://www.wetgiw.gov.pl/ - cover prevention of and fight against animal diseases and supervision of health aspects of foodstuffs of animal origin, and in particular: - examination of slaughtered animals and their meat, meat of game and other animals intended for human consumption, - border veterinary control, - supervision of safety of animal origin foodstuffs, including veterinary conditions of production, processing, storing, transporting and in limited scope the retail sale, - supervision of animals and animal origin products trade, - supervision of producing, marketing and using of feedingstuffs, - supervision of usage of pharmaceuticals and medical substances intended for animals, - control of the occurrences of chemical and biological, medicinal and radiation contamination residue in animal tissue, foodstuffs of animal origin and feedingstuffs, - supervision of health of animals intended for breeding and of health and quality aspects of biological material, - supervision of compliance with regulations on animal welfare, - control of compliance with rules for animal identification and registration, - diagnostic laboratory research conducted by veterinary hygiene institutions.
3. The main objectives of the Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service - http://piorin.gov.pl/ are: - control of marketing and use of pesticides on the primary production level; - participation in the RASFF system; - control of marketing and use of pesticides on the primary production level; - control of presence of pest harmful for plants, implementation of eradication measures and prevention of spreading of such pests, including import phytosanitary control, export phytosanitary certification and supervision of movement of plants and plant products within the EU.
4. Main tasks of Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection - https://www.gov.pl/web/ijhars - are related to ensuring fair practices in food trade including protection of consumers' interests in particular the prevention of fraudulent or deceptive practices, the adulteration of food and any other practices which may mislead the consumers. These main tasks are as follows: - Marketing quality control of agricultural and food products; - Supervision of organic farming; - Protection of regional and traditional products; - Coordination of Polish cooperation with international organisations dealing with food and its marketing (including acting as FAO/WHO Codex Contact Point, UNECE WP7 Secretariat and the EU Food Fraud Contact Point for Poland).
INFOSAN Emergency Contact Point
INFOSAN Emergency contact point is located in the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (State Sanitary Inspection) / Food Safety and Nutrition Department/ RASFF Unit

Food safety and consumer protection – laws and regulations

The current list of legislation, related to food safety and consumer protection in each country, is extracted from FAO's database on Food Legislation FAOLEX.
While FAOLEX makes every effort to serve as a high quality, reliable source of information, no guarantee is given that the information provided in FAOLEX is correct, complete, and up-to-date.

The national Codex programme

National Codex consultative mechanism
The Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection (AFQI), subsidiary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development acts as the FAO/WHO Codex Contact Point for Poland and performs its function according to the Codex Alimentarius Commission ”Procedural Manual” and the Decision of the Council of European Union of 11 November 2003 No 822/EC on the accession of the European Community to the Codex Alimentarius Commission. In this respect AFQI coordinates Polish cooperation and participation in work of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission and its advisory bodies. Codex Contact Point for Poland: - coordinates all national activities related to Codex work; - carries out consultations with Polish experts; - coordinates participation of Polish delegates in Codex sessions and promotes Codex activities. According to the Decision of the Council of European Union of 11 November 2003 No 822/EC on the accession of the European Community to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, national comments are subject to consultation with all Member States of the European Union. In this respect Polish input to the Codex work are being submitted to the EU Council Secretariat and included in the EU comments.
Providers of scientific and technical input to national consultation on Codex
Main stakeholders providing expertise to Codex documents are: - Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection; - The National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene - National Research Institute; - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; - other governmental and non-governmental organisations, official food control authorities, food industry associations, scientific and research institutes, universities and other interested parties.

Risk Assessments and Scientific Data

National bodies providing risk assessment and scientific advice
‐ European Food Safety Authority (EFSA); ‐ The National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene - National Research Institute; ‐ The Research Regional Laboratory for Genetically Modified Food in Tarnobrzeg; ‐ Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology; ‐ Voivodship Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Warsaw - Reference Laboratory for Pesticide Residues; ‐ The National Veterinary Research Institute - State Research Institute in Pulawy; ‐ The National Research Institute of Animal Production - National Feed Laboratory in Lublin; ‐ The Institute of Plant Protection - National Research Institute in Poznan.
Risk assessment, risk profiles, scientific opinions
EFSA’s (European Food Safety Authority) opinions (available on EFSA’s website https://www.efsa.europa.eu/) Most of the scientific opinions related to point Q7 are available for the internal use.
Official Laboratory
1. Laboratory tests for official controls of food and food service in respect of food safety are carried out by 16 integrated accredited laboratories of the State Sanitary Inspectorate (SSI), which operate within an integrated system of laboratory tests for food.
2. In the framework of the Veterinary Inspection laboratory tests for official controls of food and feed are carried out by following accredited laboratories: a) 16 regional veterinary laboratories with 14 branches available at the website: https://www.wetgiw.gov.pl/inspekcja-weterynaryjna/zaklady-higieny-weterynaryjnej; b) laboratories approved by Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) available at the website: https://www.wetgiw.gov.pl/nadzor-weterynaryjny/rejestry-i-wykazy-pracowni-i-laboratoriow.
3. In the framework of the State Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service (SPHSIS) official surveys of pesticide residues at the level of primary production are carried out by following accredited laboratories: - Main Inspectorate of Plant Health and Seed Inspection - Central Laboratory in Torun and 14 regional divisions listed here: https://piorin.gov.pl/dzialalnosc-laboratoryjna/struktura-centralnego-laboratorium/oddzialy-centralnego-laboratorium/ - Institute of Plant Protection – National Research Institute, Department of Pesticide Residue Research in Poznan; Pesticide Residue Laboratories in Bialystok and Sosnicowice; - Institute of Horticulture - National Research Institute , Food Safety Laboratory in Skierniewice.
4. Analyses of agricultural and food products are conducted in 7 official accredited laboratories of the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection (AFQI) in Poznań, Białystok, Gdynia, Kielce, Lublin, Olsztyn and Warsaw. More information is available at the AFQI website - https://www.gov.pl/web/ijhars/laboratoria.
Official Competence
1. Official SSI’s laboratories test foods in the following scope: pesticide residues, metals harmful to health, nitrates, MCPD and glycidyl fatty acid esters, microbiological contamination, mycotoxins, histamine, methanol hydrogen cyanide, ethyl carbamate, food additives, the parameters of the purity of food additives and extraction solvents, GMOs, radioactive contamination of food, foodstuffs treated with ionizing radiation, iodine salt, foods for medical purposes, food intended for young children and infants, total diet replacement for weight control and food supplements, fortified foods, materials and articles intended for contact with food, PAHs, furan, trans-fatty acids, acrylamide, mineral oils, fats for frying, tropane alkaloids, gluten, other parameters e.g. organoleptic assessments, labelling, biological physical and contaminants.
2. The laboratories of Veterinary Inspection conduct microbiological, chemical, biochemical and physical testing of food of animal origin and feed.
3. Duties of (SPHSIS) laboratories: - determination of plant protection products residues in agricultural crops at primary production level; - phytosanitary analyses; - chemistry of food of plant origin and environmental chemistry; - determination of pesticide residues, by combined chromatography techniques GC/LC; - evaluation of own single and multi- analytical methods according to SANCO, EUROCHEM, CORESTA etc.; - estimation of dissipation kinetics of pesticides in field-treated crops; - human health risk assessment to pesticide residue exposure; - effect of food processing on pesticide residues.
4. The laboratories of AFQI conduct biological, microbiological, chemical, biochemical, physical and sensory testing of agricultural and food products.

Surveillance of foodborne diseases and monitoring of food contamination

National surveillance systems – foodborne disease in humans
Outbreaks of foodborne diseases are immediately notified at national level. Data on the number of cases of diseases (grouped by pathogen) that can be transmitted by food and water are published bi-weekly in bulletin which is available on the publicly accessible website of the National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene – National Research Institute http://pzh.gov.pl. The foodborne infections surveillance is coordinated by the Epidemiological Department which acts as the national surveillance centre for all statutorily notifiable infectious diseases.
National monitoring systems – foodborne hazards in the food chain
The State Sanitary Inspection carries out semi-annual and annual reporting system on the implementation of the sampling plan for testing food as part of official control and monitoring. These data are gathered at three levels: local, regional and central. At the local level, based on test results, the samples are registered as: not questioned (not disqualified) or questioned (disqualified). At the regional and central levels data are gathered and classified as follows: the number of all samples tested, within the official control system or under monitoring, by groups of products and areas or tests, and similar data for disqualified samples, which do not meet the requirements. The aforementioned data at the national level (central level) are gathered in accordance with the same criteria. These data are used to prepare annual reports sent to the European Commission and EFSA. Moreover the reports received from regional level are then sent to research institutes, which after a careful analysis of the results of official controls and monitoring of food, prepare a sampling plan for the next year.