Opening a two-day meeting between the Supervisory Board of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and Croatian representatives, Antunovic said that European rules required that national food safety agencies should be independent of industrial and political interests, open to rigorous public scrutiny, scientifically authoritative and should closely cooperate with national health authorities, and that this was also expected from the Croatian Food Agency.
The meeting brought together about 60 representatives of Croatian institutions involved in the food safety system, including relevant government ministries, institutes, university colleges, food producers, and consumer protection organisations.
The meeting was organised as part of the PHARE project "Progress Towards Accession: Strengthening the Food Safety Systems in Croatia and Turkey," the purpose of which is to prepare the two countries to join EFSA's activities.