03.06.2025 18:33
The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, İbrahim Yumaklı, announced that as of July 28, it will be mandatory for all food businesses to use the QR code application. Yumaklı stated that inspections related to food safety have increased and that administrative fines are being imposed on businesses where non-compliance is detected.
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Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı stated, "As of July 28, all our food businesses will be required to use the QR code application."
A 'World Food Safety' event was held on June 7 in the Conference Hall of the General Directorate of Forestry to mark World Food Safety Day. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, protocol members, and many guests attended the event. The program began with opening speeches following a video prepared for the day.
YUMAKLI: MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION INSPECTIONS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN 2024
Emphasizing that the ministry is present at every stage of the food process 'from farm to fork', Minister Yumaklı said: "We have a strong infrastructure in all 81 provinces. We have 41 public and 107 private sector laboratories. Our ministry has 15 R&D centers focused on food. I have more than 8,000 food control officers. With this strong structure, more than 1.3 million inspections were conducted in 2024. I want to express strongly from here that we will not hesitate to take action against those who jeopardize the health of our people."
"WE IMPOSED A FINE OF 1.1 BILLION LIRA"
Since January 1, 503,000 inspections have been carried out. As a result of these inspections, 11,702 non-compliances were detected. We imposed an administrative fine of 1 billion 56 million lira on these identified places. Our goal is not to detect non-compliances and impose fines. Our aim is to work with our companies, businesses, their employees, or decision-makers to ensure that these non-compliances do not occur again, almost like preventive medicine. If there is a factor that endangers health, we do not hesitate to file a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor's office. So far, we have filed criminal complaints against 301 businesses among those that have been inspected."
"QR CODE APPLICATION WILL BE MANDATORY FOR FOOD BUSINESSES"
Stating that nearly 100 applications related to plant and animal health have been implemented in the last 2 years, Minister Yumaklı said, "We all know that due to a disease called potato wart, some areas have been closed to production in our country for 24 years. Therefore, we are now saying that these areas will be opened to production starting this year. We have increased the number of animal foot-and-mouth vaccinations to 3 in 2024, resulting in a 76% decrease in the number of cases compared to the previous year. In any public consumption place or restaurant you visit, you will be able to see whether it has been inspected and when it was last inspected, and you can easily access information by scanning the QR code from the Reliable Food section of the Agriculture in Your Pocket application on your mobile phones. In the next phase, we will also show the results of that inspection there. As of July 28, all our food businesses will be required to use the QR code application. Therefore, our businesses need to transition to this application by that date," he stated.
At the end of the program, Minister Yumaklı visited the stands showcasing local delicacies, tasting and chatting with the vendors.
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