2005
The food control system in Libya is based on the Health Law No. 106 and Standards Law No. 5 (adopted in 1990), which prohibit the distribution and selling of fraudulent and unsafe foods and of food not compliant with the standards issued by the National Centre for Standards and Codes.
The National Centre for Food and Drug Control was established as the specialized health authority, responsible for accepting or rejecting any important food consignments. The Centre the authority to monitor and inspect all food production, distribution and display outlets. In 2003, the Centre has inspected 9,305 imported food items. A total of 220 shipments were rejected and about 19,131 samples were analyzed. Additionally, the Centre has conducted a total of 2,310 field visits to the domestic market, including manufacturers, schools, wholesale and retail outlets, restaurants and slaughterhouses.
Recently, the General Public Committee of Libya established a National Codex Committee and nominated the National Centre for Standards as the focal contact point for Codex matters.
Consumers' protection associations have only been recently established in Libya , the first being established in February 2005. For this reason, consumers have not been previously involved in the preparation of national standards. However, major sectors of the community actively participate in the preparation of national standards, e.g.: scientific research institutions, academia, industry, marketing, legislation, depending on the nature of standards. The newly established consumer association will participate in this activity.
Consumer protection associations are members of the National Codex Committee and of all its technical committees. Recently, a new decision has been published to establish a high Council for Consumer Protection. Despite its governmental identity, it has a wide multi-sectoral representation and focuses on the protection of consumers.
Information last updated - January 2007