Cyprus announces National Food Safety Authority

Health Minister Michael Damianos on Friday announced the creation of a National Food Safety Authority as a means to protect public health.

“The creation of a single National Food Safety Authority is a vital step aimed at coordinating and at the same time strengthening controls carried out in all areas related to food safety, including animal health and welfare, as well as of plant health protection,” Damianos said.

The guiding principle for the independent body would be the protection of public health, he added.

The “mission” of the authority would be intertwined with the implementation of a single and integrated control and risk management system for food and feed safety, animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products “with transparency and impartiality”, the minister said.

It will have a “single health” approach which will recognise the interdependence of human, animal and environmental health and requires the adoption of unified and coordinated supervisory and control mechanisms.

These would aim to ensure the prevention, deterrence, detection and handling of fraud within the food system.

The ministry is currently in the midst of a public consultation on the issue of the new authority. This is ongoing, Damianos said and the public and other interested parties can express their views as part of the process.

“We encourage the constructive participation of all interested parties in this process in the hope that the initiative will receive the necessary support and positive acceptance both from society as well as other involved bodies,” the minister concluded.