FAO’s Food Safety Program

1. FAO’s Food Safety Program Strengthening controls of food safety, plant and animal pests and diseases for agricultural productivity and trade in Southern Africa. The Governments of New Zealand and South Africa workshop on “Food safety systems for export” 2 -3 September 2014 at OR Tambo Building Multi-Purpose Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. NAME OF PRESENTER Dr Tobias Takavarasha, FAO Representative for South Africa

2. Presentation Layout • Background on FAO Food Safety Program • Some highlights of relevant work programs • Conclusions

3. FAO’s work in food safety is embedded in the organization mandate: achieving food security for all, and sustainable food production

4. Introduction to the FAO Food Safety Programme • Core Functions • provide independent scientific advice on food safety which serves as the basis for international food standards • develop institutional and individual capacities for food control and food safety management in many countries, including the management of food safety emergencies • support processes for the development of food safety policy frameworks • assurance and supporting countries’ effective participation in the work of Codex; • facilitate global access to information and encourages and supports the development of food safety/ quality networks.

5. Technical Capacity Development • Our approach • Active in a wide range of food safety and quality capacity development activities at National and Regional Levels with key partners

6. FAO’s 4 Pillars for Food Safety The FAO Global Food Safety Strategy is based on: 1.Achieving measurable improvements in national systems of food control through action at national, regional and global levels 2.Global participation in the setting of agreed international food standards, codes of practice and guidelines that are science-based. 3.Enabling implementation of good food safety management practices at all stages of the food chain 4.Identification, communication and evaluation of emerging, re-emerging and recurrent food safety issues. Achieving measurable improvements in national systems of food control through action at national, regional and global levels Global participation in the setting of agreed international food standards, codes of practice and guidelines that are science-based. Enabling implementation of good food safety management practices at all stages of the food chain Identification, communication and evaluation of emerging, re-emerging and recurrent food safety issues

7. FAO linkages with partners and development priorities • Projects and work are linked with key development priorities both within and outside of FAO including: • FAO Strategic Objectives • FAO Regional Initiatives in Africa • Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP): Food safety interventions generally associated with Market Access, Food Supply and Hunger and Land and Water Management Pillars. • Directly in support of the Codex Strategic Plan 2008-2013 • Contributing to the Strategic Plan for CC-Africa • In collaboration with key institutions including WFP, WB, WHO, OIE among others.

8. Joint FAO-WHO initiatives • FAO/WHO work on foodborne contamination and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) • Pilot in Kenya with Kenya Medical Research Institute and EAC • FAO/WHO work on food safety emergencies: • A) Respond to food crises (Japan) • B) Capacity building: EMPRES • 4. INFOSAN

9. FAO’s work on risk-based food inspection, including control of food imports • Challenges for countries to “transition” to risk-based food inspection systems. • “Risk-based food inspection manual” was published in 2008, and used in training and in-country activities. • Continuous engagement with member countries has identified specific need for additional guidance on control and inspection of imported foods.

10. “Imported Food Control Manual” • Consistent with the CCFICS texts is in its finalization stage. • The manual aims to assist official authorities in the assessment, review and development of national imported food control programmes • Aims to help bridge the gap between principles and implementation. • Preliminary field testing in the Pacific region, in the Near East and in Africa ( Gabon )has been implemented.

11. FAO’s work on strengthening the adoption of safe food practices by food chain operators • Achieving safe food production is reliant on the adoption of safe food practices by those producing, • handling and preparingfoods • Farmers • Processors • Transporters • Retailers and Distributors • Food handlers in restaurants, hotels, and the final consumer.

12. 1) a national workshop in Tanzania to train government officials, small industry development organizations, research institutes, universities and private industry in the production of tomato, maize, meat and cashew nut • 2) a sub-regional workshop in Rwanda for government officials, food processors and members of academia and research on strengthening milk, passion fruits, rice and maize production from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda.

13. FAO’s work linking food safety and legal policy-making • FAO Legal services Department • Work closely with the appropriate Technical Unit ( Food safety and IPPC Secretariat) to provide support to countries • Development of a regulatory framework with coherence between national law and regulations – regional laws and international laws and regulations • Critically important to keep them engaged !

14. Key Initiatives related to Export • Strengthening Controls of Food Safety, Plant and Animal Pests and Diseases for Agricultural Productivity and Trade in Southern Africa (2014-2018) • Export markets – OUMAR’s project • South-South Cooperation Funding to Support Food Safety in SADC Member Countries (2015-2016) • TCP on the Improvement of the Regulatory Framework for Animal Health and Food of Animal Origin for CEMAC

15. Strengthening Controls of Food Safety, Plant and Animal Pests and Diseases for Agricultural Productivity and Trade in Southern Africa • Project in process from 2014-2018 • Includes Angola, Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. • Main goal of improving food and nutrition security while enhancing terms of trade within the SADC Region. • Expected outcomes include: • Reducing the occurrence of food safety related pests and diseases • Enhance national capacities to address these issues • Mitigate the impact of food safety issues on crops, livestock, fisheries and forest resources • Improve and enhance intra-regional trade

16. Improving Supply of Safe and Quality Livestock and Meat Exported from the Horn of Africa to Middle East and Gulf Countries • Ongoing project being implemented in 2014-2015 • Includes members of IGAD countries • Main goal of the project is to increase the export volumes of safe livestock and meat from Horn of Africa countries to the Middle East and Gulf Countries • This is done through training, infrastructure development, and increased business development between these regions.

17. South-South Cooperation Funding to Support Food Safety in SADC Member Countries • Project approved for implementation in 2015-2016 • Includes all SADC member countries • Goal of developing capacity for food control systems in SADC Member Countries • Outcome includes improved quality of exports within SADC member states for both regional and international trade, stronger food control systems for both import and export products.

18. TCP on the Improvement of the Regulatory Framework for Animal Health and Food of Animal Origin for CEMAC • Ongoing project being implemented in 2014-2015 • Includes Cameroun, Gabon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Congo • Main goal of creating new regulatory framework within CEMAC to facilitate trade of live animals and food of animal origin between CEMAC countries. • Assists CEMAC countries to improve export of animal products both within CEMAC and internationally.

19. Aquatic Animal Health Training • FAO & DAFF in collaboration with OIE, Rhodes University, NEPAD and AU-IBAR planned and hosted a training course in Aquatic Animal Health (AAH) on the 14 – 20 July 2014. • This AAH training forms part of the activities planned in building the capacity of Veterinarians and Animal Health Practitioners under the FAO/DAFF Capacity Building Project. • Flowing from the AAH training the FAO in partnership with DAFF,OIE, NEPAD, SADC and AU-IBAR are planning a regional workshop on Fish Health and Aquatic Biosecurity – 4 – 6 November 2014 in Durban.

20. Relevant FAO Tools • Risk Analysis Toolkit: to support national authorities address food safety tasks through risk analysis principles • Tool to guide sampling plans for mycotoxin detection • Risk Management Tool for the Control of Campylobacter and Salmonella in Chicken Meat • Tool on assessing the performance of sampling plans:A user friendly web-based tool to assess the performance of presence/absence sampling plans and concentration based sampling plans for microbiological hazards • Multi-criteria Decision Analysis tool (MCDA) for risk prioritization o food safety programmes • Collaboration with WHO –FERG project: Creating tools to estimate the burden of disease related to food safety hazards.

21. Relevant FAO Resources • FAO training materials on GAPs – integrated to Farmer Field School programmes (http://www.vegetableipmasia.org/Training%20Materials.html) • FAO tool on Good Hygiene Practices along the Food Chain (http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/food-safety-quality/publications-tools/en/)

22. Proposed way forward • Establish linkages between the SA-New Zealand initiative, the FAO regional initiative on Food Safety and South-South Cooperation for food safety, FAO South Africa capacity building project and food security and nutrition coordination project. FAO is keen to work with partners in developing and implementation this coordination project within its recently completed Country Programming Framework.

23. Thank you THANK YOU www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality