Food hygiene in Croatia: implementing Reg. (EC) 852/2004

This page is the hub for Croatia's implementation of Reg. (EC) 852/2004. It gives the overall picture and links to the detail pages and the other jurisdictions covered in the countries pillar.

The division of powers

Croatia has a distinctive trait: policy-setting for food safety and the official controls are entrusted to different bodies. Policy for food safety rests with the Ministry of Agriculture (Ministarstvo poljoprivrede), while official controls are consolidated within a single body, the State Inspectorate (Državni inspektorat), which operates through its sanitary and veterinary inspectors. In our view this is what sets the Croatian case apart: whereas in the Netherlands a single national authority carries out both the administrative functions and the controls, in Croatia policy-setting (the Ministry) is separated from the execution of controls (the State Inspectorate), differing too from models with an authority that integrates food and veterinary functions. Croatia's institutional set-up has been reorganised over the years: for this reason we describe the current arrangement at a general level and refer readers to the official portals, bearing in mind the last-verified date of this page.

Registration and approval

Reg. 852/2004 requires every food business operator to notify each establishment to the competent authority for registration Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. Most businesses — bars, restaurants, retail shops — are subject only to registration. Establishments handling products of animal origin (slaughterhouses, cutting plants, dairies, fishery-product establishments) may instead be subject to approval under Reg. (EC) 853/2004 Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004: an express decision that verifies the requirements before start-up, with the involvement of veterinary inspection. The difference between the two is explained in the concept registration vs approval.

Self-checking and training

Every food business must put in place self-checking procedures based on HACCP principles Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and ensure the training of staff who handle food Annex II, Chapter XII, point 1 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. The regulation allows the hygiene requirements and HACCP principles to be applied with the flexibility provided for small businesses Article 5(5) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and encourages the development of national guides to good hygiene practice Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004: these remain support tools and do not replace the business's responsibility. The operational picture for training is covered in HACCP training in Croatia.

Official controls and competent authorities

Official controls are organised under Reg. (EU) 2017/625 Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, which repealed the earlier Reg. (EC) 854/2004 and 882/2004. In Croatia enforcement is consolidated in the State Inspectorate, which schedules inspections and verifications on a risk basis, while policy-setting remains with the Ministry of Agriculture; administrative penalties are laid down by national law. For a comparison between the Croatian model — with a split between policy and controls — and a centralised or decentralised one, see the countries pages, the Spain page, the Italy page and the country-comparison tool.