Food law in BiH and Republika Srpska: basic duties for food businesses

The Law on Food of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2004) sets the basic rules for everyone who works with food: a farmer who processes produce, a cheese or rakija maker, a restaurant, a rural household serving meals to guests. In Republika Srpska the entity Law on Food applies alongside it, spells out the same duties and says where a facility must be registered. Registration in the Central Register does not cover all of these activities, so read step 1.

In short

• A food business operator is responsible for food meeting the rules at its own stage (production, processing, storage, transport, sale), and is liable for damage to health caused by unsafe food.
• Traceability: at any time you must be able to say who supplied you and whom you delivered to. The BiH law requires these records to be kept for three years.
• If you know or suspect that food is unsafe, stop it immediately, withdraw it and notify the authorities.
• Households that produce and prepare food only for their own use are outside the law.
• In Republika Srpska the fine is 2,000 to 10,000 KM for a company, 1,000 to 5,000 KM for a sole trader, and 300 to 1,500 KM for a natural person or responsible person.

Who it applies to

Any natural or legal person, including sole traders and farm holdings, doing any work with food, whether or not for profit. The law covers primary production (growing, milking, harvesting, gathering wild plants and fruit), processing, storage, transport and sale. It does not cover production and preparation for private household use. The duty to enter a facility in the Central Register is narrower than these general duties and does not apply to wine and spirits.

What to do

1. Check whether your facility must be registered. In Republika Srpska the Law on Food (Article 29) requires production, processing, storage and wholesale to take place in a facility entered in the Central Register of Facilities that Work with Food, kept by the Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management). Article 29 does not apply to wine and strong spirits, so rakija makers do not file this application. Under the 2017 rulebook, registration is mandatory for production and processing of food of plant origin and mixed products, and for storage and wholesale of such food. Facilities under veterinary supervision (food of animal origin, such as milk, cheese and meat) are registered and approved under veterinary rules. Catering premises and retail are not listed in Article 29 paragraph 1, so ask the competent inspection about your obligations.
2. Submit the application to the Ministry on the new Form 1, introduced by the 2020 amendment of the rulebook (Službeni glasnik RS 49/20) and found in its annex. Attach: an extract or decision on company or sole-trader registration, or a certificate of entry in the Register of Agricultural Holdings; a technological project for facilities where food is produced or processed, except facilities of small-scale operators covered by the rulebook on derogations for food business operators with a small volume of production (Pravilnik o uslovima odstupanja koja se odnose na subjekte u poslovanju sa hranom koji imaju mali obim proizvodnje, Službeni glasnik RS 27/19); proof of payment of the administrative fee.
3. Set up traceability. Keep records of your suppliers (who supplied food, animals, raw materials) and of the customers you delivered to. Food you place on the market must be labelled or otherwise identified so it can be traced.
4. Set up self-control. Operators outside primary production run regular hygiene checks based on HACCP principles; primary producers do so under good production practice.
5. Know what to do when something goes wrong. If food does not meet safety requirements, stop it. If it has already reached consumers, inform them and, if needed, ask for it back. In Republika Srpska you notify the Republička uprava za inspekcijske poslove (Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs) and the Ministry about a withdrawal.
6. Keep the registration up to date. Under the rulebook (Službeni glasnik RS 78/17 and 49/20): report any change of data on Form 1 within 30 days of the change; producers and processors submit a business report for the previous year by 31 March (Form 2); within 30 days of permanently stopping the activity, apply to be removed from the register.

Deadlines and amounts

• Traceability records: kept for three years (BiH Law on Food, Article 28).
• Fines under the Republika Srpska Law on Food (Article 59): legal entity 2,000 to 10,000 KM, sole trader 1,000 to 5,000 KM, natural person and responsible person 300 to 1,500 KM. The same range applies to working in an unregistered facility and to failures on traceability or withdrawal; a ban on carrying out the activity can also be imposed.
• The 2004 BiH law sets its own ranges (for a legal entity 7,500 to 17,500 KM for traceability and 12,500 to 25,000 KM for unsafe food and missing self-control, Articles 70 and 71), but within the entity apply the Republika Srpska ranges.
• Check the amount of the administrative fee for registration with the Ministry.
• Versions described: BiH Law on Food, Službeni glasnik BiH 50/04, and RS Law on Food, Službeni glasnik RS 19/17. The Food Safety Agency of BiH and the register of the Republika Srpska Official Gazette list no amendments to these laws.

Where to go

• Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srpske, Trg Republike Srpske 1, Banja Luka, tel. 051 338 415 (Ministry page, address and phone; forms are in the annexes of the rulebooks below).
• For facilities handling food of animal origin: veterinary inspection, Republička uprava za inspekcijske poslove, Trebinje office. Confirm contact details before visiting.

Laws and sources

• Law on Food of BiH (Službeni glasnik BiH 50/04), Articles 1, 3, 24 to 29, 70, 71
• Law on Food of Republika Srpska (Službeni glasnik RS 19/17), Articles 2, 22 to 25, 28, 29, 59
• Rulebook on keeping the Central Register of Facilities that Work with Food, Pravilnik o vođenju Centralnog registra objekata koji posluju hranom (Službeni glasnik RS 78/17)
• Rulebook amending the Central Register rulebook (Službeni glasnik RS 49/20)
• Rulebook on derogations for food business operators with a small volume of production (Službeni glasnik RS 27/19), entry in the Official Gazette register