Fisheries Dept Labs Get ISO Accreditation
MUARA, 14 January 2010,
Thursday - The Department of Fisheries has received international
accreditation for its Fish Inspection and Quality Control (FIQC)
laboratories, accomplishing one of the department's goals to boost
Bruneian seafood products into the global market and assist in realising
the department's target revenue of $400 million a year for the industry.
"In order to ensure that locally-produced seafood products are safe for
intended users and meet the stringent (international food safety)
standards, products meant for export are analysed so that they are free
from contaminants," a press statement from the department said.
"Laboratory facilities that analyse the products need to also be
internationally recognised so that they can generate confidence to end
users. In this regard, the Department of Fisheries has strived very hard
to get its food analytical laboratory facilities meet international
standards," it was also stated.
The accreditation for the ISO/IEC 17025:2005, which are the "General
Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories"
was done by Singapore Accreditation Council and the national authority
for accreditation of conformity assessment bodies in Singapore.
Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama
Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar was on hand
yesterday to present the certificate of accreditation to Fisheries
Director Hjh Hasnah Ibrahim in the presence of officers from the
ministry and the Fisheries Department at the Fish Landing Complex (FLC)
in Muara.
"This accreditation will help pave the way for the local fisheries
products to enter the competitive global market while at the same time,
ensuring the local seafood products meet international food safety
standards," the statement said.
In his remarks, the minister said that the accreditation was "not an
easy feat to achieve".
"The analytical results of the products carried out by laboratories
which are ISO/IEC 17025 accredited will be more accepted in the
international arena and will give confidence to the customers who
utilise the services of such laboratories," he said.
Pehin Dato Hj Yahya said that the achievement would also give a
competitive advantage to local seafood products analysed by the FIQC
labs, when they enter the export market.
The minister and the officials also toured the FIQC labs, which comprise
two analytical laboratories, namely the microbiology and chemistry
laboratories. They are both equipped with modern equipment for bacterial
and antibiotics screening, organic chemical testing and analysing heavy
metals.
At the microbiology lab, a lab technician had been checking for diseases
in locally-cultured shrimp. She said that they go through 10-20 samples
per week with each sample taking two weeks on average to analyse, adding
that it was "tedious work".
Following the visit to the labs, the minister proceeded to the seafood
processing research and development facility of the FLC. There, he
witnessed a live demonstration of how the seafood was processed into
canned goods and other secondary products.
The ministry officials then visited the Fisheries Department's Regional
Centre for Fisheries Products Import and Export Handling, which is
currently undergoing construction.
- Courtesy of
the Brunei Times -
