Legislative framework for meat inspection system in Croatia

This paper describes the changes in the Croatian regulations and harmonisation with European Union (EU) legislation in the field of meat inspection, before and after 2013, when Croatia joined EU. Namely, in the last 30 years, the legislative framework of the meat inspection system in Croatia has changed several times. In 1997, the Veterinary Act (OG 70/1997) stipulated that veterinary health inspection in slaughterhouses is carried out by authorised veterinarians (AVs) employed in veterinary organisations to which state authorities have been delegated, while officinal veterinarians are employed by government and have a broader spectrum of duties. The AV performed the veterinary examinations to determine the safety of products of animal origin, and only they, and not the food business operators (FBOs), were responsible in the case of any non-compliance. The conditions that AVs had to fulfil were a diploma from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, a certificate of completion of the State Professional Examination (SPE) for Veterinary Inspector, and at least three years of professional experience after passing the SPE. The next Veterinary Act (OG 41/2007) brought changes in the meat inspection in the framework of official controls of food of animal origin by dividing regulations between this Act and the Food Act (OG 46/2007), and introduced the term “control bodies” for veterinary organisations with delegated state authorities. An AV then had at least two years of professional experience, a license (issued by the Croatian Veterinary Chamber after completing one year of professional practice) and the SPE certificate (issued by the Minister of Agriculture). The Food Act introduced a shift of responsibility in the case of non-compliances to FBOs, at all stages of production, processing and distribution. The Veterinary Act of 2013 (OG 82/2013) implemented Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 in the Croatian legislative framework, but did not bring any changes related to meat inspection. The State Inspectorate Act (OG 115/2018) introduced significant changes in the organisation, as all inspections involved in the food safety system were merged, with the exception of fisheries inspections. The Act on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products (OG 52/2021) implemented the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2017/625. The State Inspectorate was introduced as the Competent Authority for different areas of official controls, and “delegated bodies” as the local competent authorities performing meat inspection. At the same time, amendments to the Veterinary Act (OG 52/2021) changed the requirements for AVs. The development of the legal framework over the years had less impact on the methodology of meat inspection, so riskbased meat inspection did not play a role in practice. However, since 2013, in cooperation with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Croatian Veterinary Chamber, continuous training programs have been organised for AVs, based on the EFSA scientific opinions (2011- 2013) on public health hazards posed by meat and its control in meat chain.