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Conclusion of the NAC: the field of food safety, affected by several corruption risks
04.11.2021 1913 ViewsThe institution integrity assessment, conducted by the NAC at the National Agency for Food Safety (NAFS), has shown that the field of food safety is affected by several corruption risks, as follows: risks of active and passive corruption, abuse and exceeding of service duties, not declaring undue influence and influence peddling, falsification in official documents. These typical corruption risks directly affect the activity of the institution and the image of the entity.
The authors of the assessment have found that a number of inspectors of the NAFS were involved in the integrity incidents between 2019 and 9 months of 2021. This fact demonstrates a big number of criminal cases initiated by the NAC during the reference period (31), but also the results of the professional integrity tests, used in the assessment process.
Thus, the conclusion of the Chisinau Court (Center Headquarters) from July 26, 2021, reflects that only 23% of the NEFS employees were assessed positively at the professional integrity test. At the same time, the assessment report has demonstrated that the sums of money received by the inspectors who admitted corruption manifestations vary between 200 and 2000 lei.
Concomitantly, the integrity tests indicate the actions of not fulfilling the duties of controlling, issuing permissive acts to business premises that are not equipped properly, introducing distorted information in the control report, not documenting irregularities, obtaining money for issuing permissive documents.
The assessment has also established that corruption risks are determined by different factors as: ambiguous and unclear regulatory framework, defective planning of controls, insufficient motivation to initiate unannounced control. At the same time, it was observed that the system of quality control monitoring is inefficient, while the mechanism of monitoring the non-compliant food management is practically missing.
All these institutional risks factors indicate the lack of integrity culture at the level of the Agency, is also shown in the assessment report.
Thus, to avoid corruption risks pointed at the NEFS, the NAC has formulated and presented a series of recommendations. Respectively, the manager shall adopt an integrity plan, its realization will be subsequently monitored by the NAC.
More information is available in the report.
More reports are here: https://cna.md/lib.php?l=ro&idc=83&t=/Evaluarea-integritatii-institutionale/Rapoarte-de-evaluare
We remind, that institutional integrity assessment is a mechanism provided by law, through which the NAC identifies vulnerabilities and institutional factors that favor or can favor corruption and issues recommendations that would exclude their effects.