In 2024, the State Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority (SZPI) carried out a total of 50,059 inspections as part of official controls aimed at protecting consumers’ health and legitimate interests, while also ensuring fair competition among businesses.
Out of these approximately 50,000 inspections, SZPI inspectors conducted 31,548 in retail outlets, 14,495 in catering establishments, 11,923 in food production facilities, 2,401 in wholesale warehouses, 603 in primary production, and 3,908 in other locations – such as transport, bonded warehouses, online sales, and so forth.
Regarding the country of origin, the supervisory authority identified the most deficiencies in food imported from so-called third countries. In contrast, the lowest proportion of non-compliant samples – consistent with previous years – was found in food produced domestically. Among food imports from third countries, 38.1% of the assessed batches failed to comply with national or EU regulations. For food originating from EU countries, 24.4% of the batches were non-compliant, while only 15.4% of domestic products fell short of compliance standards.
In 2024, 2,913 administrative proceedings were concluded in connection with breaches of food legislation, and the SZPI imposed fines totalling CZK 189,056,750 – CZK 60 million more than in the previous year.
From 1 January 2025, the monitoring of food law compliance in open catering establishments (including restaurants, fast food outlets, pubs, cafés, petrol stations, etc.) was standardised under the Ministry of Agriculture. This marks a significant change with positive implications for both consumers and operators.
“Thanks to the efficient, professional, and centralised management of the SZPI, we now have uniform methodological procedures for all official food inspections across sectors and regions. This brings a clearer, more transparent, and more predictable environment for both consumers and business operators – without introducing any new obligations for the latter,” said Marek Výborný, Minister of Agriculture.
Following this standardisation, the SZPI conducted 10,796 inspections in the catering sector between 1 January and 16 May 2025. In 3,367 of these cases (over 30%), breaches of legislation were identified. Due to serious hygiene violations, SZPI inspectors were forced to close 51 restaurants and fast food establishments on the spot.
