20000125

'Harmonising food

safety, quality

standards must

for free trade'

ISLAMABAD: There is a need for harmonising national food safety and quality standards, as envisaged under WTO's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement, to put the country in an enabling environment in the context of trade liberalisation.

This was observed by Dr Syed Wajid H Piracha, director WTO-Food Agriculture and Trade Related Matters (FARM) Cell of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), as key speaker at one-day seminar on SPS Agreement of WTO and National Food Quality and Safety Imperatives, held here on Monday.

The seminar, organised by the PARC with the objective of creating awareness among the stakeholders, was attended by agro-livestock and food academicians, public health regulatory bodies, policy makers and planners, consumer associations and other stakeholders in GOs NGOs and private sector.

Dr Piracha in his paper said, in the last 50 years of the world witnessed unprecedented progress in both agricultural production and food science and technology.

This led to enhanced use of these technologies for production, processing and preservation, both at farm levels and in food processing, as to increase productivity, shelf-life or improve the organoleptic and nutritional properties of food products, he said, adding, a similarly, food storage, distribution and consumption practices have also been changed.

"Enhanced use of food technologies and modern agro-livestock, a practice in food production and processing coupled with the rapid development of international trade, necessitates national food quality and safety measures".

According to Dr Piracha, the rapid development of international food trade and the expansion of food distribution system has increased the potential for spread of food-borne and zoonotic diseases i.e. diseases which are communicable from animals to man.

Resultantly, there is a growing concern among consumers about the quality and safety of the food supply, he added.

He said, there is a need to address the issue of national food safety and quality imperatives as a prerequisite for successful domestic and international trade facilitated through implementation of WTO Agreements of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).

As specific sanitary and phytosanitary requirements are most frequently applied on a bilateral basis between trading countries, Dr Piracha viewed, the implementation of SPS Agreement will reduce uncertainty about the conditions for selling to specific markets.

Continuing, he said, this also discourages use of SPS measures, as disguised barriers to trade, as a way of shielding domestic producers from enconomic competition.

He was of the opinion that without such measures, developing countries like Pakistan have both political and technical disadvantages, adding, specific recommendations are made as coping strategies aiming at adjusting and reorienting policies and production systems to WTO regime.

The session followed an interactive discussion among the participants, who focused on the issues like, food systems, food safety and international food trade, regulatory issues in food safety, public health hazards etc.

It may be mentioned here that WTO, of which Pakistan is a member, asks for Sanitary (human and animal) and Phytosanitary (plant) health measures, consistent with Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) of FAO/WHO, as a requirement under its Agreements on SPS measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).

This has given national food safety and quality a new prominence.ÑAPP