The quality of food supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is monitored at all stages. If a military unit receives substandard products, the head of the food service must draw up a report. In this case, it is possible to bring the unscrupulous supplier to justice.
The press service of the State Logistics Operator told UNN about the peculiarities of food quality control, inspection of producers and suppliers, and the role of the State Logistics Operator in these processes in an exclusive commentary to UNN.
Details
In particular, the DOT noted that before the bidding is held, the compliance of the participant with the qualification requirements is checked.
"Suppliers are checked for compliance with qualification requirements (availability of material and technical base, financial solvency, availability of employees with the necessary knowledge and experience), technical, quality and other requirements to the subject of procurement, as well as compliance of participants with compliance requirements at the stage of evaluation of the proposal submitted for participation in the tender. In addition, the DOT team may conduct on-site inspections (audits) of potential suppliers.
Before concluding food supply contracts for the second quarter of 2024, the State Logistics Operator team conducted familiarization visits to the warehouses and production facilities of potential suppliers. They checked the storage conditions of products and compliance with production standards.
At the procurement stage, the qualifications and experience of the participant are checked. The requirements for food quality are determined by the Product Descriptions and each participant confirms the possibility of supplying food of the appropriate quality," the DOT explained the procedure.
As for the specifics of inspections of certain types of food, in particular, the quality of canned food that is to be delivered to the military is checked within 30 days of signing the contract. A separate procedure is used to audit manufacturers who directly supply food to the Armed Forces.
"The Central Quality Control Department of the Ministry of Defense conducts separate checks on the quality of canned products. Representatives of the Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine Department take product samples and send them to a laboratory for testing for physical, chemical, microbiological, radiological, chemical and toxicological indicators, among other things. Such testing must take place within the first 30 days after signing the contract. Products can be delivered to the military only after positive test results.
When purchasing directly from the manufacturer, audits are conducted at production facilities and warehouses after the contract is signed.
In particular, the DOT conducted audits of water suppliers, focusing on the control of raw materials and supplies, control of the safety of packaging materials, the availability of standard sanitary practices, instructions, schedules for sanitizing premises, etc.
In May, the DOT will also visit the production facilities and warehouses of bread suppliers with audits. The audit will be based on a checklist, which includes the following requirements: water used as an ingredient in the production process or for cleaning must be potable, allergens must be controlled when storing food in warehouses, etc.", the DOT said.
It was noted that at this stage, a mechanism for data exchange with suppliers is being set up, which will allow to accurately compare the request from military units and the products actually delivered to the military.
The DOT also explained the reasons for the refusal of the head of the food department to accept the food brought to them.
"We have recorded both subjective and objective reasons for the rejection of goods.
Subjective ones include, for example, refusing to accept goods on April 2 because they were ordered on the fifth, or refusing to accept goods because of the size of the pallet on which they were lying.
For objective reasons. Complaints about poor-quality products from the heads of food services of military units were sent to the State Logistics Operator. If the military received low-quality products, the military unit does not accept the delivery and draws up a complaint report. The acts are sent to the DOT. According to the acts, if the complaint is substantiated, the supplier is subject to penalties.
The penalties include, in particular, a fine of 20% of the cost of defective products and the obligation to replace such products within 24 hours," the DOT summarized.
They assured us that they have developed feedback mechanisms with the military to receive timely information from them about possible deliveries of low-quality food.