Germany consists of 16 federal states (Länder) that vary greatly with regard to the size of each state (between approximately 1 and 18 million inhabitants per state). The 16 federal states of Germany are, in principle, responsible for the implementation of laws. Therefore, every state is responsible for the implementation of food and feed safety. The federal government supervises the federal states to ensure correct execution of the federal laws. In this task, the federal states are independent, i.e. not bound by instructions of the federal government.
