Seminar on Harmonization and Strenghtening of Food Inspection and
Certification for Shrimp and Bivalve Molluscs,
26 - 27 November 2007, Brunei Darussalam
- Press Release -
The
Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, in
its efforts to increase and further develop the fisheries products to
the global markets, with respect to the inspection systems and
certification that is certified internationally. Also, the Strengthening
of Food Inspection and Certification for Shrimp and Bivalve Molluscs in
Brunei Darussalam with other ASEAN member countries.
The seminar
session that was held is part of the Inspection and Certification of
Food Program, under the AEGFS group ASEAN Expert Group on Food Safety (AEGFS)
in collaboration with ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Programme
in efforts to harmonise the Inspection and certification of food of
ASEAN member countries. In order for the respective products to
penetrate the global market they have to be according to the standards
which are set out and acrreditated. This seminar session is a result of
a numerous series of workshops attended by representatives of the
Fisheries Department, which includes the Regional Strategy Workshop held
on the 6 July 2007 in Kuala Lumpur and the Consultation Preparation
Workshop which was held in on 6 to 10 August 2007.
This 2- day seminar held on 26 and 27
November 2007 aims to deliver
information related to the importance of harmonisation and strengthening
food inspection system and certification of fisheries to two different
working groups and to gather feedback for the upcoming final Regional
Review Meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Manila in January 2008.
The first
working group includes the relevant authorities from other agencies
which are involved in the food inspection and certification, such as the
food safety and quality control section from the public health
department, Ministry of Health, as a focal point for the food safety
project program. Also, the National Standard and Accreditation Centre,
Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, which is responsible for the
issuance of Hazard Analysis And Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Good
Aquaculture Practices (GAqP) certification for the processing
establishments of the fisheries sector to support the manufactured
products produced for the international market.
The second
group consists of officers and staff of the Department of Fisheries who
are involved in the inspection and monitoring activity of fishing
vessels, fish landing sites, ponds, and processing establishments which
are produce fisheries product especially for export.
An invited
guest speaker, from the Department of Fisheries Malaysia, Mr Hamdan
Jaafar has been specially invited to conduct this seminar and present
the guidelines and standard inspection and certification systems
according to the international standard, as well as to share his
experiences in this seminar.
With this
seminar session, the officers and staff of the Fisheries Department will
be more pro-active and efficient in implementing their roles and
responsibilities in inspection and certification systems for the
fisheries products, especially for shrimp and bivalve mollusks,
according to the international standards.
The seminar
was held at one of the hotels in the capital and was officiated by the
Guest of Honour, Dayang Hajah Hasnah binti Ibrahim, Director of
Fisheries Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Brunei
Darussalam.
Director of
Fisheries also mention in her opening remarks that the seminar will
gives more benefits to the participants. One of the important benefits
gain will be in the capacity building for the relevant agency in the
implementation and upgrading the monitoring and certification system for
shrimps and bivalve mollusks. The seminar is expected to established
strategy to harmonized the monitoring and certification system for
shrimp and bivalve mollusks to upgrade the quality control system of the
Fisheries Department for upgrade capability of the country to meet the
standard requirements by the importing countries such as EU. Aw we know
at present Brunei Darussalam had successfully exporting shrimp though in
small quantity to countries like Japan, Korea and United States of
America.
One of the
objectives of the Department is to include Brunei Darussalam in the list
of countries exporting to EU. EU market is very difficult to penetrate
with the stringent requirements. This is a big challenge and this
seminar is anticipated to assist Brunei Darussalam on how to achieve
this objective. To fulfill the requirements, standards such as Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) has to be met and these
needs full commitment and involvement of the producers (management and
manpower), enforcement institution in food quality control and support
from other institutions ( in terms of technical, research and training
institutions).
Department of Fisheries,
Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources,
Brunei Darussalam.
27 November 2007
