Govt committed to ensure food safety standards: Bosan
By Tariq Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Food Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL), Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan Friday said that government was committed to ensure food safety standards, which are the measures of compliance regulations enacted by governments to protect the health and safety of their citizens and the environment in which they live.
“Food safety regulations are pervasive in both developed and developing countries, and have a long history and their existence reflects a general consensus that, for a variety of reasons, unregulated food markets will not deliver optimal levels of food safety”, he said while addressing as the chief guest at theconcluding ceremony of weeklong international workshop on ‘Food safety standards for better exports of fruit and vegetable products’, here this Friday.
The workshop was jointly organised by National Productivity Organisation (NPO) of the Ministry of Industries and Production, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) and Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) Japan.
Chairman of PARC Dr. Muhammad Tusneem was also present on theoccasion. Experts from 12 APO countries participated and shared their knowledge and experiences and put foward useful recommendationsfor the food safety standards and for better exports of fruit and vegetable products for the benefit of the member countries.
Mr.Bosan said that there are several market failures/distortions that provide a rational for administrative interventions in food markets to impose standards. He added that the food safety has been of a paramount concern to mankind since early civilization.
“In the modern age, the role of food safety has assumed greater attention because of its strong bearing on public health and use of food safety standards as trade barriers by the food importing countries”, he remarked. These food safety standards of the developed countries are not only higher than those prevailing in the developing countries but also they are subject to frequent upward revisions, he remarked.
The Minister said that such changes are to be expected, given the advances in scientific knowledge about health hazards, the highly income-elastic consumer preferences for higher safetystandards, improvement in food processing technologies and thegadgets to detect even minute quantities improvement in food processing technologies and the gadgets to detect even minute quantities of potentially harmful substances.
Mr.Bosan said that externalities associated with food quality also provide a common rational for food safety regulations. All types of agricultural produce are potentially capable of transmitting contagious diseases harmful to animals, including human being, and plants, but perishable foods are considered particulary potent vehicles for transmission of such diseases, he added.
Even if production, trade and consumption of food do not confer any externalities, the case for food regulations is often made on the basis of some other market failures that generate sub- optimal outcomes in food markets, he said. The Minister said that in order to meet the ever-increasingrequirements of intentional food safety regulations, it is imperative that “we put our house in order and upgrade our food production and processing systems”.
He added that for having food safety standards in place and to stave off food safety hazards, the food business is required to upgrade all of its food handling operations. The Minister said that specific food handling controls include the receipt, storage, processing, display, packaging, transportation, disposal and recall of food.
The skills and knowledge of food handlers and their supervisors, the health and hygiene of food handlers, and the cleaning, sanitizing, and maintenance of the food premises andequipment within the premises also make part of the food safety efforts, he added. Like wise, the overall design and construction of food premises, including water supply, sewerage, garbage, ventilation and lighting, floors, walls and ceiling, fixture, fitting, andequipment within buildings, including handwashing facilities, and food transport vehicles; all play an important role in meeting the food safety objectives, he added.
The food safety standards make the owners of food business responsible for ensuring the people who handle food and the people who supervise this work, have the skills and knowledge they need to handle food safely, he added. There is a general scientific consensus on what pathogens are likely to contaminate food but there is much less information about the method and patterns of transmission to humans, and the extent and cost of preventable foodborne illnesses, he remarked.