Cyprus

Competent authorities

Name of authority:
The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment (MARDE) and the Ministry of Health (MH).
Mandate/competence:
The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment (MARDE) and the Ministry of Health (MH), together with their associated control bodies, the Department of Veterinary Services (VS) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) of MARDE, and the Public Health Services (PHS) of the Department of Medical and Public Health Services (DMPHS) of MH, are responsible for almost all controls on food safety, animal health, animal welfare, plant health and quality labelling in Cyprus and also for ensuring compliance with the Union rules in the wine and spirits sectors. The State General Laboratory (SGL) of the MH provides many of the laboratory services required by these bodies.

The Veterinary Services are responsible for controls on: animal health and welfare, food of animal origin and composite foods of animal origin (where the ingredients of animal origin are more than 50%) (covering the stages of production and import, and butcheries) from the primary production to before to be placed at the market, imports and exports of live animals and products of animal origin, TSEs and animal by-products, residues of veterinary medicines and slaughterhouses.

The DA is responsible for controls on: feeding stuffs, marketing and use of plant protection products, and plant health, and enforcement of Annex I to Regulation (EC) no. 852/2004 on food of non-animal origin at the primary stage of production. Furthermore, the DA is responsible for ensuring compliance with the following fundamental Regulations of the Union: Regulation (EC) no. 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council on the common organization of the market in wine, Regulation (EC) no. 251/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council on the definition, description, presentation, labeling and protection of geographical indications for aromatized wine products, Regulation (EC) no. 2019/787 of the European Parliament and the Council on the definition, presentation and labeling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labeling of other foodstuffs and the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks and Regulation (EC) no. 110/2008 of the European Parliament and the Council on the definition, description, presentation, labeling and protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks.

The DMPHS is responsible for controls on: food hygiene, food of non-animal origin and composite foods (where the ingredients of animal origin are not more than 50%) throughout the food chain, food of animal origin at the retail stage only, (with the exception of Butchery Shops) GMOs, environmental contaminants and pesticide residues in foodstuffs, imports of food of plant origin, and certain foods of animal origin (honey and ice-cream).

Eight of the larger autonomous municipalities also perform food hygiene controls, which is limited to retail establishments and mass catering.

The control systems are largely centralised. At regional level, the VS have 5 District Veterinary
Offices (DVO), the DA has six District Offices (DO), and the PHS of the DMPHS have five District Health Inspectors’ Offices (DHIO).

The Food Safety Board (FSB) is responsible for proposing food safety policies, defining priorities and co-ordinating activities between institutions. All Competent Authorities (CAs) are represented on the board, and it is chaired by the permanent secretary of the MH. Since 1 January 2010, the FSB meets every two months. Main issues discussed include the MANCP, specific issues of risk assessment, emerging risks, and pilot case results for food safety research programmes. The FSB also coordinates the activities of all competent authorities in case of crisis management in Cyprus.

INFOSAN Emergency Contact Point

Food safety and consumer protection – laws and regulations

The national Codex programme

National Codex consultative mechanism

Providers of scientific and technical input to national consultation on Codex

Risk Assessments and Scientific Data

National bodies providing risk assessment and scientific advice

Risk assessment, risk profiles, scientific opinions

Official Laboratories

Official Laboratory:
a)The State General Laboratory
b)The State General Laboratory
c)Veterinary Laboratories-Laboratory of Control of Food of Animal Origin
d)The Analytical Laboratories Section and the Oenological Laboratory
e)1)Food Composition, Food Quality and Nutritional Value (Lab 1)
2) General Water Analysis (Lab 2)
3) Veterinary Drug Residues (Lab 5)
4) Environmental Water Contamination (Lab 6)
5) Pesticide Residues & POPs (Lab 8)
6) Food and Environmental Radionuclide (Lab 9)
7) Articles in Contact with Food and Safety of Toys (Lab 12)
8) Food Additives and Special Analyses of Food (Lab 13)
9) Environmental and Other Food Contamination & Natural Toxins (Lab 14)
10) Water and Drug Microbiology (Lab 15)
11) Food Microbiology (Lab 16)
12) Food Customs Control and Other Samples (Lab 17)
13) Cosmetics and Food Supplements (Lab 19)
14) Food Authenticity - NMR (Lab 20)
15) Food Molecular Biology and Immunology (Lab 21)

Official Competence:
a)Public Health Services
b)PHMSAP Sector
c)Veterinary Services
d)DA
e)1)-15) State General Laboratory

Surveillance of foodborne diseases and monitoring of food contamination

National surveillance systems – foodborne disease in humans

National monitoring systems – foodborne hazards in the food chain