The Sejm voted by a majority on the Act "On Products of Animal Origin and the Food Safety and Nutrition Act". Its main objective is to facilitate the entry into the market of food-producing establishments. Administrative facilitation and tax incentives are intended to revive local production.
There was a bill that was long awaited by the market of small producers. The new law facilitates the production on a wider scale of healthy products straight from local farmers. The question remains how it will ensure food safety.
Administrative facilitation
The Act abolishes the obligation for the competent authority of the State Sanitary Inspection to approve food production facilities in private homes where food is regularly prepared to be placed on the market.
The obligation to draw up a technological design of the plant by entities engaged in direct sales or marginal, local and limited activities (so-called MOL-e) was also abolished.
Instead of submitting a draft to a county veterinarian who was then obliged to check it and approve it, under the new law it is only enough to submit with 30-a written request for entry in the register of production establishments on the day in advance. These.
two records make it much easier for producers to enter the market and open up the possibility of selling not only to final consumers but also to shops, restaurants or agritourism farms.
The Act increases the tax-free amount for food-producers with 20 to 40,000 PLN. Over this amount will be paid a flat-rate tax 2%, which in practice means that when selling products for 100 PLN He'll only give it back 2 PLN tax
Tax incentives
Another facilitation is the introduction of tax incentives for those farms that generate additional income from the processing of domestic products. The Act increases the tax-free amount for them with 20 to 40,000 PLN. Over this sum, the farmer will pay a flat-rate tax 2%, which in practice means that when selling products for 100 PLN He'll only give it back 2 PLN tax.
Food out of control?
The parliamentary debate before the adoption of the Act highlighted the issue of ensuring the safety of such products. “Let’s imagine that a pierogist producer with meat will not do them the right way and the whole village will be poisoned”, says the doctor, Professor Alicja Chybicka of the Civic Platform.
– Is the Minister sure that excluding small enterprises producing animal-based food from very strict control and placing them under much less control will not endanger people's lives? Meat is something that should be subject to very strict control.
Doubts the professor tried to dispel the Minister of Agriculture Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, who stated: "It is not that we endure food control and food security. The system that functions in Poland guarantees that Polish food is, as we are convinced, tasty, healthy and safe, that it is our decoration.
This food safety system, which meets all European Union standards, also ensures that it is safe. Whether produced on a small scale or produced in large plants, it is safe food. It is the responsibility of the State to ensure this security.
Author:
Katarzyna Kołbuś - Editor leading RB Magazine. From Over 10 years related to industry press, including the Financial Gazette and portal ipip.com.pl, which is devoted to finance, taxation, law, politics and the economy. She graduated from Polish philology at the UMCS and the language editing of the text at the University of Warsaw.