Azerbaijan tightens food security regulations 10-year prison sentences for unsafe products

To enhance food security, Azerbaijan is steadily improving its legislative framework and tightening control over local food production, raw materials, and imports. Recently, members of the Milli Majlis (parliament) discussed and approved a series of regulatory acts and amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses, significantly increasing penalties for the production and sale of food products that pose a threat to public health and safety. The amendments also introduce stricter regulations regarding alcohol pricing, as well as rules for the sale of pharmaceuticals and the promotion of dietary supplements.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, one of the key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to ensure safe agricultural production, establish processing systems, and produce food products that meet international quality and sanitation standards. The FAO believes that promoting full-cycle safe food production in countries contributes to the development of national economies, international trade, and tourism. It also plays a crucial role in ensuring food security and the reliability of the food industry, making it one of the key factors in achieving the SDGs.

The issue of ensuring access to diverse, nutritious, economically affordable, and most importantly, safe food for the world’s population was the central theme of many speeches at the UN event held on October 16, 2024, in Rome, marking World Food Day. During the forum, it was highlighted that, against the backdrop of growing global military conflicts and climate upheavals, hundreds of millions of people around the world are facing hunger, while billions cannot afford healthy and safe nutrition. 

Moreover, in the world's poorest countries, due to weak sanitation and food control systems, there are frequent instances of agricultural raw materials being used with excessive levels of nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides. Additionally, expired food products or those containing dangerous additives are entering the markets of developing nations.

Unfortunately, despite the global efforts of the FAO and other relevant organizations to regulate the safety of the world food market, the pressures of globalization and growing population numbers are driving an increasing demand for food, including a rise in the supply of unsafe food products. The overheated global demand is leading to the complexity and lengthening of global food supply chains, which makes it more challenging to monitor and control the food production system effectively.

The situation is further exacerbated by rising costs in agricultural production and transportation. In response, producers are forced to industrialize crop and livestock sectors, expand the use of fertilizers, adopt genetically modified organisms (GMOs), food additives, and substitutes, all of which create new threats to food safety. In the context of widespread trade networks and the rapid distribution of food products, local incidents can quickly escalate into international emergencies, often leading to outbreaks of foodborne diseases, the spread of zoonotic infections, and more. FAO experts believe that these issues place additional responsibility on food producers, while ensuring food security has become a critical national-level priority.

Azerbaijan faces some of the issues mentioned above, and in recent years, significant efforts have been made at the legislative and administrative levels through the Ministry of Agriculture, the Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency, and sanitary-epidemiological services to strengthen control over the quality of domestically produced and imported food. Thanks to improvements in fiscal reporting since 2019, "grey" production and trade schemes in the agricultural, processing, and food industries have been largely overcome. These reforms have played a key role in shutting down underground workshops producing unsafe counterfeit food and alcohol, and have also enabled the establishment of proper control over catering establishments.

An important role in improving food quality in Azerbaijan is played by the Food Safety Law, which came into effect at the beginning of last year. This legislation incorporates advanced international standards for food product inspection, registration, and approval of entities and facilities involved in the food supply chain, playing a crucial role in protecting the lives and health of citizens. Since May of last year, the country has begun registering imported genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and feeds, as well as similar products produced and processed within the republic. The import, production, and circulation of unregistered GMO products are completely prohibited. Additionally, this spring, several laws were amended, launching the process of optimizing the permitting system for the import and production of alcoholic beverages, significantly strengthening control over the quality of these products.

Another step in optimizing the legal regulation of food safety was taken by the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, which, in its third reading, adopted a series of significant amendments to the Criminal Code (CC) and the Code of Administrative Offenses. Specifically, a new article, 200-3, was added to the CC, which stipulates various penalties for the intentional production, sale, or storage of food products that are dangerous to human life and health. These penalties range from fines of 10,000 to 15,000 manats ($5,880-8,820) to the deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in specific activities for up to two years. 

Furthermore, if such actions are repeated on a particularly large scale or committed by a group of individuals or an organized group that has prearranged their actions, the perpetrators may face imprisonment for a term of one to three years, with subsequent restrictions on their activities. If the aforementioned actions result in the accidental death of two or more people, the penalty is imprisonment for a term of five to ten years.

As the famous Latin saying goes, Dura Lex, sed Lex (The law is harsh, but it is the law), and in this regard, one can only hope that the stern spirit of the new article in the Criminal Code will finally rein in the fraudsters who sell meat from sick animals or carrion to butcheries, as well as bring order to questionable restaurants and banquet halls, where a visit may sometimes end in food poisoning with diarrhoea or even a hospital bed with an IV drip in the intensive care unit.

On the same day, members of the Milli Majlis introduced Article 455-1 into the Code of Administrative Offenses, which establishes fines for selling alcoholic beverages below the minimum retail price. According to the draft, individuals engaging in such actions will face a fine of 100 manats ($58), while officials will be fined 800 manats ($470), and legal entities will incur a fine of 2,000 manats ($1,176). The deputies also reviewed a series of amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, including provisions for penal sanctions for the inclusion of dietary supplements in medical prescriptions and for the retail sale of medicines packaged for medical institutions.