Paweł Borek
Of Counsel, Poland
Paweł is an attorney-at-law with over 30 years of experience, gained as a public official, in-house lawyer and attorney at a law firm. He advises food industry businesses on every aspect of their activity, with a particular focus on representing them before public authorities, during inspections and in proceedings before administrative courts. He is the only member in Poland of the Food Lawyers Network, a global organisation of practising lawyers specialising in food law.
He advises businesses in the food, dietary supplements, retail and e-commerce sectors on regulatory and product compliance, labelling, food safety and placing products on the market. He represents clients before public authorities, in inspections and before administrative courts, including the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection (IJHARS), the State Sanitary Inspection, the Trade Inspection and the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK). Paweł helps companies adapt to regulatory change, launch new products and enter new markets and sales channels, and build compliance processes that fit their operations. He works with food producers, importers, distributors, retail chains and e-commerce companies, including large corporate groups.
Helping you succeed in tomorrow's world
The food industry is changing fast: new regulations, new sales channels, growing consumer expectations and stricter enforcement. Paweł helps businesses stay ahead of these changes without losing sight of their day-to-day operations.
As a legal adviser (radca prawny) with over 30 years of experience, gained as a public official, in-house lawyer and attorney at a law firm, he looks at every matter from the perspective of the authority, the business and the adviser. He specialises in food law and advises producers, importers, distributors, retail chains and e-commerce companies on compliance, labelling, food safety and placing food and dietary supplements on the market.
When an inspection or dispute arises, he represents clients before public authorities, including the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection, the State Sanitary Inspection, the Trade Inspection and the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, and before administrative courts.
Recent work
Paweł has worked in the legal profession from three perspectives: as a public official, as an in-house lawyer and as an attorney-at-law at a law firm. This allows him to look at every matter from the point of view of the authority, the business and the attorney-at-law.
As an in-house lawyer, he was Head of the Legal Department, responsible for a group of companies that included Implix/GetRespons, Vemma Europe, ClickMeeting, PayLane. The group operated in e-commerce, payments and food law, which gave him first-hand experience of how regulation shapes day-to-day business decisions in each of these sectors.
He was responsible for the introduction of dietary supplements produced in the United States to the European Union market and Swiss markets. The project required adapting product compositions to the requirements of individual countries and notifying the products to the competent authorities. He also set up companies in Ireland, Switzerland, Austria and Italy and prepared a series of agreements tailored to the distribution model and to the legal requirements of each country.
The project combined regulatory, corporate and commercial work, and allowed him to build a complete legal structure for entering several European markets at once.
As an attorney-at-law in a law firm, he has handled a number of disputes with public authorities that were of major business importance to his clients, and he has helped bring products to market in a closely regulated environment.
What sets his approach apart is that he has seen these matters from every side. As a former public official, he understands how authorities think, what drives their decisions and how a proceeding is likely to unfold, which helps him choose the right strategy and the right moment to act. As an in-house lawyer, he knows what is at stake for the business: launch dates, supply chains, reputation and revenue.
As an attorney-at-law, he brings these perspectives together and turns regulatory requirements into practical decisions that clients can act on.
We have been cooperating with Paweł Borek for many years. We value his knowledge of food law, especially in the context of the practice of applying the rules in court proceedings and disputes with official control bodies. His versatile experience allows him to skillfully and effectively solve the problems faced by the food industry on a daily basis. Paweł is also the author of numerous articles that are periodically published on the foodfakty.pl website and a regular speaker during our events.
