Within the assigned competencies CAFIA inspects foodstuffs, raw material for their production, agriculture products, soap products, detergents and tobacco products. The above competences apply to the production, storage, transport and sale (including import).
Such a comprehensive conception of control allows focusing efficiently on commodities, analytes or places with the highest estimated number of non-conformances or with the maximum effect of inspection expected. It is therefore referred to as target inspection, whose objective is not only monitoring but protection of economic interests of both consumers and the state – consumer protection from foodstuffs that are risky to human health, falsely labelled, sold despite their expired use-by-date or of unknown origin. The manufacturing and sales conditions form an integral part of the target inspection.
The concept and implementation of food inspection is based on a new legislation (especially on the Act No. 110/1997, Coll. on Foodstuffs and Tobacco Products, on the amendment to the Act No. 146/2002 Coll on CAFIA, as amended by later legislation or on the Act No. 552/91 Coll. on State Control, as amended by later legislationl) and are in accordance with principles of food inspection applied in countries of the European Union.
The term food safety means control of microbiological requirements and contents of contaminants (e.g. chemical substances, additives, pesticide residua, etc.).
The term quality control means the control of analytical characteristic features (e.g. the contents of fat and sugar, humidity, etc.), or the control of sensory characteristic features. Product labelling and its adequacy are assessed separately.
When making decision about the target of an inspection, the maximum information available is taken into account. The decision-making criteria for performing an inspection can be of either general and broadly defined applicability (general criteria) or they are based on some specific findings (specific criteria).