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PRICE to give EU food safety training to Dept of Fisheries
Source of Article: http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2008/11/12/news0745.htm
NATION
BUSINESS REPORT
The USAID-funded PRICE project and the Department of Fisheries announced the
completion of a four-day training that began on November 4 to train 38 Fish
Inspection and Quality Control (FIQC) staff on European Union (EU) food
safety issues. This training was supplemented by the training of eight
trainers of the FIQC so that they can train more than one hundred other FIQC
field inspection personnel later this year, says a press release.
Led by two international trainers, this training was to assist the Department
of Fisheries with meeting the food safety requirements of the European Union,
a critical, ongoing issue for the Bangladesh shrimp industry.
Approximately 50 percent of Bangladesh
shrimp exports are to the European Union, which has imposed numerous import
restrictions on Bangladesh
shrimp due to food safety concerns, including an outright ban in 1997.
Currently, the EU requires that all Bangladesh shrimp exports to the
EU be tested for nitro furans and other contaminants by the Competent
Authority, the Department of Fisheries. Currently, this testing is being done
by the FIQC labs.
The EU is sending a delegation in November 2008 to receive an update on the
progress of the shrimp sector with regard to ED food safety requirements.
"As the EU represents the most critical export market for Bangladesh
shrimp, we arc very pleased to work with the Department of Fisheries and
Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation to arrange this training,"
indicated Robert Webster, Chief of Party of PRICE. "PRICE believe this will go a long way to giving confidence to
the EU of the seriousness of the Government of Bangladesh in ensuring proper
handling of shrimp for the EU market. We look forward to working with all
industry stakeholders, such as the Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association
and the Foundation, to ensure continuing access to the EU market."
PRICE (Poverty Reduction by Increasing the Competitiveness of Enterprises) is
a USAID funded project whose objective is to reduce poverty by facilitating
the increase of sales, jobs and investment in aquaculture, horticulture, and
leather products.
PRICE's activities will be driven by the demand of
the market and will seek to ensure that the benefits of growth are shared
with women, young adults, SMEs and farmers as much
as possible.
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