Legislation of the inspection and control of fishery products in Togo

Recent studies conducted in Togo revealed that the country has put in place a system of health control organized around the directorate of livestock under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and this system benefits from legislation that is also acceptable in terms of international standards for food safety. What are the legislative texts that reflect this important arsenal within the framework of the inspection of fishery products that is one of the missions of the veterinary services? Do they ensure the reliability and effectiveness of the sanitary control system for fishery products? To answer these questions, an inventory of legislative and regulatory texts relating to the inspection and control of fishery products was made followed by their critical analyzes. 13 laws and regulations were collected and are distributed as follows: 02 laws, 01 decree and 10 orders. The two (02) laws and six (06) of the decrees are texts that regulate the food inspection in a general way and the only decree and four (04) decrees are texts that regulate the inspection of fishery products in a specific way. This work revealed deficiencies in form and substance, following which proposals for improvement were made to the Competent Authority.

Keywords: Fisheries, legislation, inspection, Togo