Within the framework of the food surveillance concept “from field to table”, which is a contemporary system conforming to the local conditions of Latvia and the requirements of the European Union, with its principal advantage being the capacity to trace the entire cycle of food production, the Food and Veterinary Service (FVS) started operating under the Ministry of Agriculture on 1 January, 2002.
For more than ten years the principal objective of the FVS has been – safe and harmless food for consumers, healthy and appropriately nursed animals.
The Central Office of the FVS: Director General, Administration, Food Surveillance Department and Veterinary Surveillance Department are the departments in charge of the strategic planning of all operations of the service and the provision of methodological assistance to FVS boards. The largest and most significant workforce of the FVS work for 11 regional boards around Latvia, providing veterinary surveillance and food circulation control throughout Latvia. The Border Control Department ensures the surveillance of veterinary, phytosanitary, food safety and non-food product safety at the border inspection posts on the external border of the European Union. The Assessment and Registration Department assesses the specific types of food and veterinary medicines before they are launched on the market.