Food Department

The Food Department (FD) oversees the inspection activities and safety monitoring of all food products manufactured locally and imported into the country and their inspections at all major ports of entry to stop the entry of substandard and falsified products into Rwanda.

In addition, FD also oversees the inspection and licensing of all food handling premises and monitoring of illegal operators of food outlets, and substandard and counterfeit regulated products through regular supervision and post-marketing surveillance.

It ensures stakeholders service providers and the public receive the right information on the regulated products. It also ensures the verification, monitoring, and certification of food promotion materials to ensure that misleading, biased, and inaccurate information about regulated products is not disseminated.

The Food Department operates under three (3) Divisions:

FOOD SAFETY MONITORING, INSPECTIONS AND LICENSING DIVISION (FSMIL)

The FSMIL Division ensures compliance with the laws and regulations for the manufacture, wholesale/distribution, and retail of food products in the Rwandan market. Food safety surveillance activities are also conducted under this division.

The roles and responsibilities of the FSMIL division are the following:

  • To assess the applications for authorization of premises for food products.
  • To conduct inspections to ensure that premises are meeting the standard requirement to operate.
  • To ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of the food products from distributors, manufacturers, and retailers.
  • To issue the operational licenses to the premises complying with the requirements.
  • To suspend the licenses if any of the conditions under which it was granted is violated.
  • To conduct Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspections of premises used to manufacture food products.
  • To conduct Good Distribution Practice (GDP) inspections for licensed wholesale and retail premises.
  • To conduct food safety surveillance inspections on the Rwandan market.
  • To develop regulatory documents related to licensing and inspection activities.

FOOD IMPORT AND EXPORT CONTROL DIVISION (FIEC)

The FIEC Division is in charge of issuing import and export licenses following application reviews, port of entry Inspections, and sampling.

The roles and responsibilities of the division are the following:

  • To control the importation and exportation of all food products.
  • To receive and evaluate applications for import and export licenses for food products.
  • To inspect consignments of regulated products at ports of entry and exit to ensure that they comply with the regulatory requirements.

FOOD REGISTRATION AND INFORMTION CONTROL DIVISION (FRIC)

The FRIC Division is in charge of handling dossiers requesting food product registration through conducting assessment and registration of food products to ensure their safety and quality prior to market authorization.

The roles and responsibilities of the FRIC division are the following:

  • To facilitate the issuance, renewal, or cancellation of food products marketing authorizations;
  • To participate in the development of regulations, guidelines, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) related to food and food safety management systems.
  • To ensure rational advertisement of food products by vetting promotional materials so that the information is not misleading the audience.
  • To regulate product labeling and promotion on the market.