VURS Director Deems Slovenian Food Safety Controls Adequate

Ljubljana, 23 January

The National Veterinary Administration (VURS) makes sure that Slovenian consumers are guaranteed an adequate level of food safety. "This level is definitely comparable to the European level," VURS director Vida Cadonic Spelic said.

According to Cadonic Spelic, food safety is also one of the priorities of this year's plan of activities, which was adopted by the administration earlier this year.
The official believes that VURS secures adequate food safety on the basis of laws that have introduced European legislation in this area, the organisation of the veterinary service which controls the production and processing of food of animal origin and on the basis of results of the EU's monitoring.
"The main job of the Veterinary Administration is to ensure animals' health and consequently people's health," Cadonic Spelic said.
On the downside, the VURS director complained of the administration being understaffed. "We are the largest body within the ministry, but have only one law expert, one employee in the personnel department and only one financial expert with a university degree."
According to Cadonic Spelic, the administration monitors 297 animal-origin food processing facilities in Slovenia. "Much time will be spent on the cooperation of our experts in the EU's working bodies. We have averagely one to two persons in Brussels a week," the official said to illustrate the workload of VURS.
According to her, the Veterinary Administration will earmark some SIT 190m (EUR 0.79m) for residue monitoring and some SIT 50 (EUR 0.21m) for zoonosis monitoring this year. The figures do not include funds for the monitoring of some diseases, such as rabies or tuberculosis, because these are funded from other sources.

VURS Director Deems Slovenian Food Safety Controls Adequate

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