The Government has received a new investigation on how to make the supervision of food more effective.
Today, 270 actors, mainly the country's municipalities, are in charge of food control. The investigation proposes that in the future, it should be done by two authorities, the National Food Agency and the Swedish Board of Agriculture.
The National Food Agency will be responsible for, among other things, the supervision of restaurants and animal welfare at abattoirs. The Swedish Board of Agriculture will be responsible for feed and animal by-products.
Law from 1951
Today's system with 270 control authorities responsible for 97,000 facilities is based on legislation from 1951.
The legislation is complex and often requires specialized expertise. As the organization looks today, it is very vulnerable.
The two authorities will have the authority to act throughout the country.
They should be well-represented in at least every county, he says.
The investigation also proposes abolished or reduced control fees by 58 million kronor. The reorganization is estimated to cost the state 133 million kronor per year fully developed.
It is a very welcome report that contains many interesting and well-needed proposals, says Rural Affairs Minister Peter Kullgren (KD).
Criticism from the municipalities
But representatives of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) write in a debate article in Altinget that the proposal will not lead to more effective food supervision at all.
They believe that today's system works fundamentally well.
"The investigation's proposal is to tear down all this to instead let the state build up a completely new organization from scratch. It's not just inefficient - it's costly."
