Maja Pešić*
UDK 006.83:664>(497.5) Review Pregledni rad
EFFECT OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE HACCP INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ON AN EXAMPLE IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY IN CROATIA ABSTRACT Major demographic change and the globalisation of the market bring with them changes in our eating habits. A string of public health measures in Croatia is increasingly gaining in importance, particularly the ecological surveillance of various sectors of the environment, of which food is inevitably an element. The main objective of the various industries is to produce, process and distribute food which will meet the requirements of health and safety, through the joint efforts of all parties in the food chain. ISO and HACCP enable the continual, documented surveillance of food safety management. The most efficient systems of food safety are introduced, implemented and modernized within a structured management system, becoming incorporated into the overall management of the manufacturing organisation. This paper describes verification procedures for the HACCP system. The analytical reports given here are individual cases in the introduction and implementation of this international system on examples in the food industry and the benefits deriving from it. From the results of this research, the author draws conclusions on the need to synchronise standards in order to meet both legal obligations and European Union norms.
JEL: L66, I12, I18, Q11, K32 Key words: international standards, food safety, HACCP system, quality.
1. INTRODUCTION This paper wishes to show that the implementation of the HACCP norm establishes a process of continued and documented monitoring, and that the process as such is inevitable and necessary. The author justifies her main hypothesis on the grounds of analytical reports and laboratory research for the purpose of establishing CCT (Critical Control Points), whose identification and subsequent monitoring is connected to the nature of the production process and achieving at a sound and healthy product. Large, well-organised and pro-development trading companies are increasingly taking on monitoring of the production, safety and quality of the food they manufacture. Company strategy in product development, its sale on new, foreign markets, and a focus on activities that will increase product value, are important elements in expanding export, and especially in maximising the value of the export itself, which certainly contributes to making it competitive on the international market. (cf. Tipurić, D.: 1999). *
Mr.sc., dipl.sanit.ing., Zavod za javno zdravstvo istarske županije, E-mail: majapesic@net.hr Članak primljen u uredništvo: 22.03.2009.