BSS, Dhaka
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on Thursday launched a new project that will support the government of Bangladesh to develop the country’s first set of national food safety indicators.
The indicators will play an important part in improving food safety which is a government priority. Experts from the project will work with government and other partners to introduce the concept of measuring food safety indicators, collect recommendations for implementation, and identify priority pilot areas suitable for Bangladesh, a FAO press release said.
Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum, Secretary, Ministry of Food; Md Abdul Kayowm Sarker, Chairman (Additional Secretary), Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA); and Md Shahiduzzaman Faruki, Director General, Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU), Ministry of Food were present at the project launching ceremony in the capital.
The event was attended by 85 guests from 37 organisations, including representatives from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the United States Department of Agriculture, several Food Safety Technical Committees, academics, researchers, and other participants who work in the field of food safety.
John Taylor, acting interim FAO Representative in Bangladesh, said FAO was fully committed to helping the government achieve its ambition of improving food safety for the people of Bangladesh.
“Ensuring food safety is a public health priority and an essential step to achieving food security. Effective food safety and quality control systems are key not only to safeguarding the health and wellbeing of people, but also to fostering economic development and improving livelihoods by promoting access to domestic, regional, and international markets,” he said.
“FAO recognises and fully supports the government’s commitment towards improving food safety. This project is an important step towards developing indicators that are essential to setting standards and measuring progress,” Taylor added.
How to measure food safety towards strengthened national food control systems has been a key discussion in the Asia and the Pacific region. International guidelines and standards recommend that countries establish food safety indicators as part of an effective national food control system.
In view of this, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific has developed a set of 40 regional food safety indicators (FSIs). Four pilot countries reported that the indicators are extremely useful when developing a result-based food safety programme.
Sridhar Dharmapuri, Senior Food Safety and Nutrition Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, provided key information on food safety indicators and an overview of the project at today’s event.