The primary social goal of each country is to protect and improve the health and safety of its citizens. Effective national food control systems are essential to protect the health and safety of domestic consumers. They are also critical in enabling countries to assure the safety and quality of their foods entering international trade and to ensure that imported foods conform to national requirements. The new global environment for food trade places considerable obligations on both importing and exporting countries to strengthen their food control systems and to implement and enforce risk-based food control strategies. Each country needs effective measures for product safety, both in food and non-food products.

By the measures set out in the legal regulations and their implementation in practice, the country protects the lives and health of its own citizens-consumers from unsafe products, reduces economic damage, and assures participation in international trade in food and industrial products, thus contributing to the overall economic growth and development of the country. An efficient system of official controls that are carried out to ensure compliance with regulations gives a country a confirmation of practical implementation.

This is particularly important for developing countries as they seek to achieve improved food safety, quality and nutrition, but will require a high level of political commitment. In many countries, effective food control is undermined by the existence of fragmented legislation, multiple jurisdictions, and weaknesses in surveillance, monitoring and enforcement.

The EU's primary concern is to improve the health and well-being of citizens through improved quality of food. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary, throughout the food chain, to establish and implement an effective food control system in all member states and candidate countries. The system requires the establishment of leading functions and administrative structures with clearly defined responsibilities for issues such as:

 √  the development and implementation of an integrated national food control strategy

 √  operation of a national food control programme

 √ securing funds and allocating resources

 √  setting standards and regulations

 √  participation in international food control related activities

 √ developing emergency response procedures

 √ carrying out risk analysis.

Basically, three crucial elements play a central role in the food security policy:
  

   √ Legislation, which imposes rules and prescribes responsibilities that must be respected

√  Food business entities that should implement these provisions and

√  The competent bodies that should  control implementation  through support to field inspectors and network of laboratories.

The basic legal framework in the EU is given by Regulation no. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which laying down the general principles and requirements of the food law, establishes the European Food Safety Authority  and laying down procedures in matters of food safety. It covers all phases of production, processing and distribution of food and feed (food chain). The Regulation lays down common principles and responsibilities, means of providing a powerful scientific basis, efficient organizational arrangements and procedures to support decision-making in food and feed matters.

 The Law on Food of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH, No. 50/04) is the basic regulation in the area of food safety in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Promoter of the Law on Food is the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH. Most of the provisions of the Law are implemented by the Food Safety Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with the competent Entities, Brcko District and Cantonal institutions. The Food Safety Agency is an independent administrative organization that started working in 2006 and was established by the Decision of the Council of Ministers in accordance with the Law on Food (Official Gazette of BiH, No. 50/04). All detailed information on the work of this agency can be found on the Agency's website: www.fsa.gov.ba

In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH has certain competencies in the veterinary and plant protection sector, which, in cooperation with the competent institutions of the Entities, Brcko District and Cantons, are realized through the work of its administrative organizations; Veterinary Office of BiH http://www.vet.gov.ba/and the BiH Plant Health Protection Administration http://www.uzzb.gov.ba/