1. EUREPGAP The European Principles of Food Safety

2. Increasing awareness of food safety in consumers greater variety of foods available for the consumer the need for more information on food labels Consumers increasingly look for greater assurances of product safety and quality

3. EUROPEAN Requirements - integral part of product quality. EU requirements Regulate: production, processing, distribution, retail, packaging and labelling of food stuffs, codes of practice. Serve: as preventative approach to reducing food-borne illness Becoming: more frequent, stringent, complex, and multi-dimensional

4. Escalation of food safety and food quality requirements CODEX ALIMENTARIUS General Principals and Requirements of Food Law (EC R 178/02) – introduces mandatory traceability requirement Revision of Hygiene Regulation EC/93/43 – HACCP becomes compulsory for agriculture in general (for farming ISO 9000 is recommended) European Union is moving forward with mandatory traceability for all food products

5. Improving the safety of the food supply Food control strategy food safety systems, based on prevention,education and verification Risk Assessment and Research to Support the Food Safety System Food can be contaminated by: chemicals, natural toxins, foreign matter,organisms.

6. Improving information flow Food labels Research shows that shoppers regularly read food labels for a number of reasons. It may be that your child has an allergy or intolerance to a food or food additive. A family member may have to reduce their fat intake. Others may have a special dietary need if they are vegetarian or wish to avoid specific foods for religious reasons. Some may want to avoid genetically modified food for personal reasons. Shoppers consistently ask for more information about exactly what food contains

7. EUREPGAP The meaning of EU safety standards for the agricultural producers

8. Preventive approach to food safety Focus of food safety management- identifying and minimising food-borne hazards at the points in the food chain where those hazards are introduced, rather than relying on finding a problem at the end of the process The principal role of Food Standards is to protect the health and safety of people hrough the maintenance of a safe food supply Lack of international standards and technical equivalence – multiplicity of standards is a major problem

9. Making a difference with produce Availability of fruit and vegetables out of season – create anxiety about how are they cultivated Need for certificated evidence to satisfy consumer concerns Food companies and retailers seek to maintain rigid food safety standards International credibility of Certificates

10. Food safety from the food chain risk analysis assessment, management and communication Traceability primary producer, post-harvest treatment, food processing and distribution to the consumer Equivalence in food safety systems prevention at source

11. Farm to Table Food Safety Mandatory hygiene requirements to the production and manufacturing set by quality standards Farmers- beginning of the food chain and dealing with food at its purest stage Food processors and manufacturers- major impact on food quality and on aspects of food safety and health Supermarkets- large businesses which could not afford to make mistakes

12. Strategy for Produce: Encourage Good Agricultural Practices and good farming practice to minimize potential hazards on raw fresh fruits and vegetables Develop training packages to assist countries in the implementation of standards Agricultural practices and post-harvest water uses, manure and biosolids, worker health and hygiene, field and facility sanitation, transportation, and traceback

13. Safety Issues Microbiological contamination Pesticide residues in agrifood Residues in animal feed Chemical contamination of water Worker exposure to chemicals Nutrition

14. Produce Processing

15. CONSTRAINS of SMEs Lack of capacity to meet externally imposed standards Lack of capacity to correct non- conformances Increase knowledge and the uniform application of the food safety standards Standards as market entry barrier and threat to existing suppliers

16. Why participate in standardization? To be integrated in the international trading system To propose standards for local products for which international standards do not exist opportunities for industry to achieve application of voluntarily safe and acceptable standards