Establishment of a National Food Safety Authority for Cyprus: A comparative proposal based on the European paradigm

This paper examines the current National Food Safety System (NFSS) of Cyprus in contrast to NFSS of European Union (EU) countries and the EU central level. The main organizational structure of Cyprus, its legal framework, the competent authorities and division of their responsibilities are discussed. Particularly, we examine the roles and responsibilities of different agencies in order to identify possible similarities and differences with NFSS operating in Europe and determine which features are considered most successful. Cyprus is one of the EU countries that have not yet implemented institutional or organizational changes to establish a single National Food Safety Authority (NFSA) or a similar organization on the national level. The existing food safety system of Cyprus is characterized by an off-hand addition of structures and division of responsibilities among different government agencies, that are accountable to different Ministries. Therefore, the efforts to effectively manage the existing and emerging food safety risks are impeded due to duplication and overlapping of responsibilities among different agencies. The overall goal of our study was to develop a comprehensive proposal for the establishment of a single and independent NFSA in Cyprus based on EU experiences and good practices in an effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the current system. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.