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

This page is the hub for Romania'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

Romania follows a distinctive model: a single integrated sanitary-veterinary-and-food-safety authority. Competence is concentrated in ANSVSA (National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority), which operates at local level through its own county directorates, the DSVSA (Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Directorate). In our view this is what most sharply sets the Romanian case apart: unlike Member States that split food competence from veterinary competence across separate agencies, Romania integrates both under one national authority with county arms. The model must be distinguished both from the Netherlands, where the single national authority is food-focused and the veterinary component is handled within it, and from split-competence models: in Spain the actual counterpart depends on the Autonomous Community and in Italy on the regional health authorities, whereas in Romania the business deals with the county DSVSA within the unified framework of ANSVSA.

Registration and approval with the DSVSA

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. In Romania this notification is made to the county DSVSA, under ANSVSA. Most businesses — bars, restaurants, retail shops — are subject to registration; certain activities instead require a sanitary-veterinary authorisation. Establishments handling products of animal origin (slaughterhouses, cutting plants, dairies, fishery-product establishments) may 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. The difference between registration and approval 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 appropriate to the nature and size of the business Article 5(5) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and encourages the development of national guides to good practice Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. In Romania staff training is supported by national provisions and guides to good practice, which remain support tools: they do not replace the business's responsibility. The operational picture for training is covered in HACCP training in Romania.

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 Romania enforcement falls to ANSVSA and its county DSVSA, which schedule inspections and verifications on a risk basis; any penalty dimension is applied through the administrative penalties (contravenții) provided for under Romanian law. For a comparison between the integrated Romanian model and other models, see the countries pages and the country-comparison tool.