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2021.04.22
Let inspection companies strengthen municipalities' food supervision
Municipal food inspection could become more efficient and equal across the country if accredited inspection companies were allowed to support municipalities with a lack of resources. This is according to Jörgen Backersgård, chairman of SWETIC, who is now calling for a government investigation.
For several years, there have been problematic differences in how public food control is conducted around the country. Despite many attempts at organizational and regulatory improvements, problems with lack of equivalence persist. The fact that there is also a large sector of control companies – which work according to well-functioning routines for quality and independence – and which have the capacity to strengthen public control has often been overlooked in the discussion. It is an opportunity that decision-makers should take a closer look at.
A number of public investigations show that many municipalities lack sufficient resources to carry out the necessary supervision of restaurants, school kitchens and cafes. It is often small municipalities that lack staff and carry out too few inspections, but deficiencies also exist in larger municipalities.
In addition, municipal inspection fees have increased significantly, with large variations depending on which municipality the inspection is carried out. From one municipality to another, the hourly rate can differ by over 80 percent and the annual fee by just over SEK 33,000 for similar companies. Such variations in performance and fee levels risk damaging both public confidence and the business climate.
While many municipalities suffer from a lack of resources, there is a well-established sector of inspection and certification companies that already carry out similar inspections today. These are partly voluntary inspections for quality and food safety that many food business operators order in addition to statutory supervision, and partly inspections carried out on behalf of the public sector.
An example of the latter is the inspection of organic food that inspection companies carry out on behalf of the Swedish National Food Agency and the Swedish Board of Agriculture. There are also many examples from other sectors where public actors delegate inspections to inspection companies – everything from vehicle and elevator inspections to the inspection of taximeters and medical devices.
What is common to the inspection companies that are allowed to carry out inspections on behalf of public actors is that they have been accredited by the state agency Swedac. Accreditation means that the agency regularly ensures that the inspection companies maintain competence, independence and impartiality. If deficiencies are discovered in the inspection companies, the accreditation can be revoked. This means that the state and municipalities retain ultimate responsibility for the inspection.
Since inspection companies can work across municipal borders, such a strengthening of public inspection could reduce the inspection burden for many municipalities with staff shortages. It would also mean that municipalities would be able to focus on coordination, quality monitoring and inspection tasks that are not delegated.
Although food inspection is a municipal challenge, it is national politicians who need to act. New legislation can enable increased cooperation between municipalities and accredited inspection companies. We would therefore like to urge the government and parliament to appoint a state inquiry to review how municipal food inspection can be developed with the support of accredited companies. We believe this is an important measure for more equal food inspections.
