The Agriculture and Food Section is responsible for veterinary and phytosanitary matters, animal nutrition and welfare, the processes related to food and feed production, labelling and legislation. It conducts control activity in these areas through supervisory bodies.

The Agriculture and Food Section is composed of the Food Department and the Food Safety Department.

The Food Department has three Units:
– Food Law and Quality Unit
– Food Chain Unit
– Official Controls in the Food Chain Unit

Main activities:

• Harmonization of Czech legislation with EU law (full responsibility)
• Legislation: Foodstuffs, Tobacco Products and Ethyl-alcohol (full responsibility)
• Contact point for the European Commission in the field of food
• Policy development and analysis of trends in food industry and tobacco industry
• Food quality (coordination)
• Standardization (coordination) – national and international level
• GHP and GMP (coordination)
• Consumer protection (coordination)
• National programme of subsidies for food business operators
• Cooperation with supervisory bodies of the EC: DG SANTE, DG AGRI, the European Court of Auditors and the European Anti-Fraud Office
• Providing and managing of the system of carcass classification according to the SEUROP
• Unification and coordination of the checking procedures of official supervision
• Risk management

The Food Safety Department has two Units:

– Food Safety Unit
– Food Safety Information Centre Unit

Main activities:

• Contact point for the EFSA
• Food Safety Strategy in the CR
• Communication on risks associated with the food chain
• Responsibility for monitoring of contaminants in the food chain
• Responsibility for monitoring RASFF in the Czech Republic
• Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
• Novel food