Poland

Competent authorities

Name of authority:
1. Ministry of Health/ State Sanitary Inspection
Mandate/competence:
1. The State Sanitary Inspection (SSI) - http://gis.gov.pl/ -
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 carries out the national contact point for the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) established according to the EC General Food Law (regulation no 178/2002 of the EP and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety) to exchange information with the European Commission and the EU Member States.

Name of authority:
2. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development / Veterinary Inspection
Mandate/competence:
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.

Name of authority:
3. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development / State Health and Seed Inspection Service
Mandate/competence:
3. The main objectives of the Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service - http://piorin.gov.pl/ are:
- control of plant health;
- control and prevention of spreading of harmful organisms;
- control of marketing and use of pesticides on the primary production level;
- participation in the RASFF system.

Name of authority:
4. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development / Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection
Mandate/competence:
4. Main tasks of Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection - http://www.ijhars.gov.pl/ - 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, at production and trading stage;
- Supervision of organic farming;
- Protection of regional and traditional products;
- Cooperation with paying agencies in the scope of the - Common Agricultural Policy - control

Name of authority:
5. Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland/ Office of Competition and Consumer Protection/ Trade Inspection
Mandate/competence:
5. In relation to food the Trade Inspection carries out:
- control of products in retail food trade taking into account the labelling and misleading information to consumer,
- control of legal compliance and reliability of operators engaged in business activities in the area of production, trade and services,
- mediation in disputes between consumers and operators to protect consumer interests and rights,
- consumer counselling.

Name of authority:
Additional note:
Aggregated detailed overview of Food Control System in Poland is available here:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/audits-analysis/act_
getProfile.cfm?pdf_id=454
Mandate/competence:

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:
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. List of official laboratories recognized by the Chief Veterinary Officer is published here:
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 State Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service Central Laboratory in Toruń,
- Institute of Plant Protection - National Research Institute, Department of Pesticide Residue Research in Poznań;
- Plant Protection Institute - National Research Institute, Pesticide Residue Laboratory in Białystok;
- Institute of Plant Protection - National Research Institute, Sośnicowice Branch, Laboratory of Pesticide Residue Research.
- Institute of Horticulture, Food Safety Laboratory, Skierniewice.

4. Analyses of agricultural and food products are conducted in 5 official accredited laboratories of the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection (AFQI) – Central Laboratory in Poznan and 4 specialised laboratories in Bialystok, Gdynia, Kielce and Lublin. More information is available at the AFQI website -
https://ijhars.gov.pl/kontakt-laboratoria.html

5. Laboratory tests for the purpose of official controls of food carried out by Trade Inspection are conducted in 5 accredited laboratories in Katowice, Kielce, Olsztyn, Poznan and Warsaw.

Official Competence:
1. Official SSI’s laboratories test foods in the following scope:
pesticide residues, metals harmful to health, nitrates, 3-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 eg. 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;

4. The laboratories of AFQI conduct biological, microbiological, chemical, biochemical, physical and sensory testing of agricultural and food products.

5. The laboratories of Trade Inspection conduct biological, chemical, biochemical, physical and sensory testing of agricultural and food products.

Official Laboratory:
2. List of official laboratories recognized by the Chief Veterinary Officer is published here:
http://old.wetgiw.gov.pl/files/2059_Laboratoria%
20zatwierdzone%20przez%20Glownego
%20Lekarza%20Weterynarii
-%20czerwiec%202016.pdf
Official Competence:
2. The laboratories of Veterinary Inspection conduct microbiological, chemical, biochemical and physical testing of food of animal origin and feed.

Official Laboratory:
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 State Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service Central Laboratory in Toruń,
- Institute of Plant Protection – National Research Institute, Department of Pesticide Residue Research in Poznań;
- Plant Protection Institute-National Research Institute, Pesticide Residue Laboratory in Białystok;
- Institute of Plant Protection - National Research Institute, Sośnicowice Branch, Laboratory of Pesticide Residue Research.
- Institute of Horticulture, Food Safety Laboratory, Skierniewice.
Official Competence:
3. Duties of (SPHSIS) laboratories:
- 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.

Official Laboratory:
4. Analyses of agricultural and food products are conducted in 5 official accredited laboratories of the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection (AFQI) – Central Laboratory in Poznan and 4 specialised laboratories in Bialystok, Gdynia, Kielce and Lublin. More information is available at the AFQI website -
http://www.ijhars.gov.pl/index.php/laboratories.html.
Official Competence:
4. The laboratories of AFQI conduct biological, microbiological, chemical, biochemical, physical and sensory testing of agricultural and food products.

Official Laboratory:
5. Laboratory tests for the purpose of official controls of food carried out by Trade Inspection are conducted in 6 accredited laboratories in Katowice, Kielce, Olsztyn, Poznan and Warsaw.
Official Competence:
5. The laboratories of Trade Inspection conduct biological, 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

National monitoring systems – foodborne hazards in the food chain