Supervision in practice

The Dutch government is responsible for supervising compliance with the hygiene codes. NVWA officials are constantly going into the country to monitor companies and institutions. As BOA, these inspectors have considerable investigative powers. For example, they can issue fines and, if necessary, even confiscate items. NVWA inspectors can visit your case solicited and unsolicited (after they have identified themselves with a badge, of course) and are completely free to check everything as they see fit. On the advice of the NVWA, the Public Prosecutor can also close a case for a period of, for example, 6 weeks. It is then up to the entrepreneur to implement necessary improvements. This all sounds quite strict, but in practice inspectors are usually treated fairly and supervised by the relevant manager or entrepreneur (also during unannounced visits).