Food criminal and regulatory law

Various different, predominantly European legislation in the food sector and its concrete application in the national legal systems as well as the handling by the German food and regulatory authorities and the courts cause many problems to companies.

When problems occur, e.g. during routine or occasional inspections, the responsible authorities have a wide range of reaction options at their disposal, including drastic measures for the company.

In the event of health hazard for consumers, obligations like the launch of a product recall, the information of the central authorities as well as reports in local and national media can cause damage to a company’s reputation.

Due to the complexity of this area of law and possible severe consequences, a comprehensive advice of our clients is essential. This includes a comprehensive view of food law with the particularities of food criminal law and regulatory law.

We provide services in food criminal law across a range of matters, including:

• Development of compliance systems for compliance with national and European law;
• Identification of risk areas, e.g. with regard to the distribution of food, animal feed and food commodities;
• Examination of administrative and regulatory issues relating to food hygiene, food criminal law and food regulatory law;
• Advice on dealing with authorities, in particular in connection with fines and prohibitions;
• Conflict resolution, criminal defence and representation in administrative court proceedings with regard to food law infringements;
• Customs law.