The National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) is the main body responsible for food safety control in Romania, with extensive responsibilities across the entire food chain: from primary production to final retail.

According to Law 96/2006, ANSVSA has the following responsibilities:

• sanitary-veterinary monitoring and control; • authorization of processing and retail units; • supervision of Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) and HACCP systems; • intervention in food crisis situations (product recalls, RASFF notifications); • thematic inspections (e.g., Easter, summer, Christmas campaigns).

In 2023, according to its annual report, ANSVSA carried out over 105,000 inspections and imposed 3,148 sanctions, amounting to more than 21 million lei. The most frequent irregularities were: non-compliant labeling, poor hygiene, and lack of traceability.

ANSVSA cooperates with European institutions through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), with the obligation to notify within 24 hours of identifying a major risk.

Starting in 2024, the institution launched digitalization initiatives, including:

• issuing online certificates; • interconnecting databases with those of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture (APIA); • using tablets for field inspections.

Effective and predictable control by ANSVSA is essential for maintaining trust in Romanian agri-food products, as well as for boosting competitiveness on external markets.