MAFF crafting ‘safe food production’ plan
MAFF crafting ‘safe food production’ plan
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) along with relevant stakeholders are jointly working towards envisaging a safe food production plan for national and international markets, said a senior official for MAFF on Monday.
He said food safety is critical as Cambodia strengthens access to regional and international markets.
Director of the Fisheries Administration (FiA) for MAFF, Pum Sitha, said that according to the overall review of fishery processing, Cambodia can compete to get access to the modern market. We have hit the next level, where we can export to some countries in terms of safety and food quality, especially in fishery products.
Regarding the legal documents, Sitha said so far the Fisheries Administration has cooperated with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to design a symbol for the Cambodia Quality Seal (CQS) that makes users recognize and feel confident to use it.
“After finalizing this symbol, we see that the enterprise that received the CQS can run their business better than before, and consumers can also have confidence,” Sitha told Khmer Times, adding, “Therefore, this quality symbol is one of the things we are working on between the Fisheries Administration and UNIDO. I think we will do our best to make more other enterprises get this CQS.”
It should be noted that the Cambodia Quality Seal (CQS) is a highly regarded certification scheme owned by the Department of Fisheries Post-harvest Technologies and Quality Control (DFPTQ) under the Fisheries Administration (FiA).
It was established specifically for fish and fishery products to recognize business operators in Cambodia for their commitment to high-quality and safe products.
This seal is awarded to companies that meet rigorous standards of excellence in safety, quality, environmental responsibility, gender equality, child labour prevention and customer satisfaction.
According to the MAFF, the Fisheries Administration (FiA) and UNIDO have implemented a Post-harvest Fisheries Development project (CAPFISH-Capture). The CAPFISH-Capture focuses on building the capacities of businesses as well as its support institutions in the country for sustainable and competitive fishery development programmes.
The project is co-funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by UNIDO in cooperation with the Fisheries Administration (FiA), support institutions and private-sector fishery businesses.
Khim Chakrya, UNIDO Private Sector Coordinator, said that the project focuses on building and strengthening long-term partnerships between stakeholders in the fisheries value chain.
“The project also invests with them to enable them to improve their business operations to ensure the sustainability of their business and to ensure that they all will receive benefit equally, especially young people, women and people with disabilities,” she added.
During the Official Launch of the Investment Support Facility-ISF in May, Minister of MAFF, Dith Tina appreciated the efforts and support of the European Union and UNIDO to contribute to promoting food safety and sustainable fisheries development.
“Access to this market is not easy, which means that there must be safety standards and technical requirements, but in addition, there must be investment capital to be able to produce products that meet the technical standards for serving food into the markets,” Tina said.
Cambodia’s Food Safety Law sets standards for food products to be safe and of quality. The law ensures that people’s health is not compromised by foodstuff sold in the Kingdom.
