Public Service
The Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for food safety. The Directorate General of Food and Nutrition (direction générale de l’alimentation - DGAl) is in charge of preparing and applying the regulatory texts for the food sector. The cold chain is a key component in food safety. Temperature-controlled carriage is a major link in this cold chain. In order to ensure quality, it has been subject to obligations on means since the 1950's in France and since 1970 at the international level.
The temperature-controlled carriage equipment used for the carriage of perishable foodstuffs must show, for international carriage and for use on the French territory, certificates of technical compliance. These certificates are valid for 3 or 6 years. The issuance and renewal process for these certificates is handled by DGAL.
From the beginning, prototype testing has been performed by the laboratories of the present-day Cemafroid. These testing tunnels, located in Bordeaux and Antony, became the official French testing stations in 1970. They are also in charge of running the mandatory tests on equipment 12 years of age and beyond, and of the certificate renewals.
In 2001 DGAL modernised the certificate issuance and renewal system. DGA1 externalised the compliance checking of new equipment to the certificate industrial applicants, subject to the latter being authorised by Cemafroid according to a "Manufacturers" certification reference document. It also externalised the compliance checks in view of certificate renewal to specialised testing centres, subject to the latter being authorised by Cemafroid according to a "Testing Centre" certification reference document. Finally, to handle the certificate applications and renewals, DGAl asked Cemafroid to set up a computerised management system and a database called DATAFRIG.
Applications are processed and certificates are issued in each department with the help of the DATAFRIG tool by the French Directorate of Veterinary Services (direction des services vétérinaires - DSV), a deconcentrated administration of the Ministry of Agriculture. The DATAFRIG tool is managed by Cemafroid.
Cemafroid also brings its technical support and expertise to the administration, particularly for international negotiations.
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