The Agricultural Inspection banned the famous bakery "Boki" from Nova Varoša from working because of "extremely bad hygienic conditions". The owner of the bakery, Bojan Popović, councilor of the New Face of Serbia in Nova Varoš, learned about the closure of his facility - from the media.
It is not a very common practice to Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management announces with a special announcement after an on-site inspection closes a local restaurant, writes Nova.rs.
The case of the bakery "Boki" from Nova Varoša is, however, clearly different, bearing in mind that its owner is someone who is a regular participant in the protests and a member of the local parliament. The whole situation was preceded by a discussion with the inspectors who broke into the bakery, refusing to show him identification cards, but also an absurd situation - the inspectors themselves, taking photos of the plant with their phones, violated the strict HACCP (Hasap) standards.
Is filming allowed?
That something was happening, a part of the public could sense during the previous day in the evening hours, before the official announcement of the Ministry.
A video of the inspector's arrival at the bakery and their discussion with the owner of the facility appeared on social networks.
During the discussion, one of the inspectors demanded the owner of the bakery to stop filming, claiming that in this way he was obstructing the official in the performance of his duties. Popović refused, asking the inspector to provide him with a specific article of the law that prohibits him from recording the inspection's proceedings in his own facility.
Everything, however, did not end at that discussion.
Ministry: Mold, grease and dirt
This was followed by an unusually detailed statement from the Ministry, which stated that the Agricultural Inspection had banned the bakery because of "serious omissions that could endanger food safety".
The work ban, according to their statements, remains in effect until all irregularities are eliminated. The Ministry claims that the premises of the bakery were extremely dirty, and that mold and grease were visible on the walls and ceiling, and that cobwebs and other impurities were found in the production plant.
"The debarrier was also dirty, while deposits of grease and dirt were observed on the floor next to the refrigerator," the announcement states, with the announcement that other legal measures will be taken against the person responsible.
"I learned from you, the inspectors hide their faces and violate HACCP"
Bojan Popović confirms for the Nova.rs portal that he has not received an official decision on the work ban.
He was particularly surprised to see photos of the interior of his bakery in the media, pointing out the enormous hypocrisy of the inspection itself.
Namely, inspectors would have to know that according to strict HACCP standards, the use of mobile phones in the production plant is prohibited due to the high risk of food contamination. However, that didn't stop them from taking pictures of the drive they were controlling with their phones.
"In addition, the inspectors left me a handwritten record that is really impossible to interpret. The inspector himself admitted this and offered to read what he wrote to me. I replied that I cannot sign a paper on which I do not know what it says. I was told verbally that I have to stop production until the problem is solved, but I do not have an official notification," says Popović.
He adds that four inspectors were in control - two from the agricultural and two from the veterinary inspection.
"When I asked them for a contact so that I could inform them when I have corrected the defects, they refused to give me their name and number. They said that I would receive a typed report by email, to which I should reply. I asked them how they would send it to me, when they did not even ask for my email address. I have been checking all day, nothing from them has arrived. On the other hand, they persistently refused to identify me as the owner, even though they had previously run into the crowd and waved identification cards in front of my wife and to a minor daughter," recounts the owner of the bakery.
A bloody fist on the window and the column of the President
Speaking about the motives for such an inspection visit, Popović has no doubt that political pressure is involved.
As a local councilor and president of the municipal board of New Face of Serbia in Nova Varosha, he has long been a thorn in the side of the local government, which in recent announcements labeled him as a "blockade leader who is trained at foreign embassies."
However, the last straw may be hidden in a recent incident during the visit of the President of the country, Aleksandar Vučić, to this city.
"On the window of my house, I held a flag with a bloody fist, which I usually wear at all protests. When the president was coming to Nova Varoš, the vehicles of his entourage had a minor collision right at the intersection in front of my house and got stuck. There was a slight collapse, so on the way they 'seared their eyes' a little with that flag on my window. There is a market story that already that same evening, a dispatch from Belgrade arrived at our SUP, to provide them with information about to the person who was holding the flag in the window. And shortly after that, this situation with the inspection happens," explains Popović.
He says that instead of silencing him, such moves by the authorities only give him an additional wind at his back.
"This has not shaken me in the least, it only gives me a stronger motive. I can see that they are hurting, they are showing their weakness in this way, and we are going even stronger," concludes our interlocutor.
Only in August: Save three thousand dinars on the annual subscription to the digital edition of "Vremena"! Take advantage of the discount here and support independent journalism.
