Agenda Item No 8	Conference Room Document 24 English only

FAO/WHO Regional Conference on Food Safety for Asia and the Pacific

Seremban, Malaysia, 24-27 May 2004

INTEGRATED FOOD SAFETY SYSTEM IN INDONESIA

(Republic of Indonesia)

1. INTRODUCTION

Since 1998, a team of Indonesian and Australian specialists has been funded by the Indonesian Government, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories (AGAL) to improve food safety in Indonesia and through this improve public health and increase trade. The team has developed and introduced a national Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS). The IFSS is based on the WHO document “Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Safety Programmes”. By identifying key stakeholders and the responsibilities of the National Agency for Drug and Food Control (NADFC), Republic of Indonesia it was possible to map the Indonesian system against the WHO model. Three functional stakeholder groups were identified and the team realized that the WHO model could be refined to better fit with Indonesia's existing system and at the same time reflect risk analysis principles. The resultant National Integrated Food Safety System model implements risk analysis principles on a national level through three networks: (1) Food Intelligence Network (Risk assessment), (2) Food Control Network (Risk management), and (3) Food Promotion Network (Risk communication). The National Integrated Food Safety System was officially launched by Coordinator Minister for People's Welfares at the NADFC in Jakarta on May 13, 2004.

2. THE NATIONAL IFSS AND ITS NETWORKS

The National Integrated Food Safety System consists of three networks as follows:

• Food Intelligence Network - Risk assessment. This brings together agencies involved with foodborne disease monitoring, food surveillance and food assessment including government, industry, academia and consumers.
• Food Control Network - Risk management. This brings together agencies involved with administration of food law, the inspectorate and analysis of food.
• Food Promotion Network - Risk communication. This brings together government, industry and consumers to communicate on food safety issues.

The networks enable improved communication between stakeholders, provide for greater knowledge sharing and build food safety capital at local, regional and national levels. To prevent each network from working in isolation, projects were required to synergise and focus food safety activities. Diagram below shows how the three networks link each other under the National IFFS.

As shown in the diagram above, three sub-programs were developed to put policy into practice at national, provincial and local levels. These programs are:

• Food Watch - a national food monitoring program that:
• uses analytical results to identify food safety problems,
• works with key stakeholders to find practical solutions and
• produces user-friendly reports/information for industry to improve practices
• Food Stars - a voluntary award program that introduces three levels of food safety training across all industry sectors from paddock to plate. The levels are as follows:
• one star - basic hygiene training,
• two star - good manufacturing practice/ good agricultural practice etc depending on the industry sector
• three star - implementation of a food safety program based on hazard analysis critical control point principles (HACCP)
• Rapid Response - a future program to enable effective communication between agencies during times of crisis and also includes strategies for food recalls etc.

The revised model provided the basis for the IFSS program logo (See Logo below). The IFSS is now gaining momentum as more government agencies are becoming involved. The team has developed the first versions of the Food Watch and Food Stars programs and are now trialling them.

Food Watch

A food surveillance system relies on the quality of information in it. If laboratory results are suspect there can be no confidence in a food monitoring program. Over the years thousands of food laboratory technicians (from government and private laboratories) have been trained as part of this project. A food reference laboratory infrastructure is currently being established to support the accredited laboratories and to provide more confidence and rigor to laboratory results.

The team has also worked hard to make the most of available information. For example, by collating results of routine food testing it has been possible to produce two draft Food Watch reports in Indonesia. The Food Watch reports looked at hazardous chemicals in foods and also drinking water. The aim of the Food Watch reports is to turn laboratory results into improved food safety practices.

The reports present results, identify where the major problems are and provide solutions to improve compliance with standards. The Food Watch reports can be used by food inspectors and sanitation officers to help raise awareness and provide education to break the cycle of ignorance. The reports do more than say "don't do this" they explain how to do things safely in a practical way.

The first draft Food Watch report explained the problems with using illegal hazardous chemicals in food. For example,

• borax is sometimes used by street food vendors as a preservative or to improve the texture of certain foods especially bakso (a boiled meatball).
• formalin (formaldehyde in water) is sometimes added to wet noodle or tofu as preservative.
• rhodamine B – a prohibited red colouring, is sometimes used to colour certain drinks.

The report explained the dangers of using these chemicals and explained which additives could legally be used with pictures to show how to measure them accurately e.g. 1g/kg = one teaspoon per 5kg.

The second report looked at drinking water. There are two grades of water available for sale. Clean water is used for cleaning and drinking water is used for drinking or cooking. Many businesses treat their water on site, that's why it is important to include water in the food safety program. The drinking water report showed that all the commercially bottled water was safe to drink. In Indonesia shop-front 'drinking water depots' are popular. People bring their 19L water bottles (on motor bikes) to be refilled at the depots. Some of the samples tested contained small numbers of E. coli bacteria so a simple food safety chart was developed (with photographs) to help businesses identify hazards, assess risks and make changes. A business can use the information from the Food Watch report to construct a basic food safety program.

Food Stars

The Food Stars program is all about introducing HACCP-based food safety programs from farm to table throughout Indonesia. Government departments are supporting the three-stage Food Stars approach, which has been developed by a team from the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories, National Agency for Drug and Food Control, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and the Institut Pertanian Bogor (Bogor Agriculture University). The Australian team members provided a catalyst to bring everyone together. They used their experience to facilitate workshops, helping the team to work through problems and find practical solutions.

HACCP cannot be introduced in one step; therefore, the voluntary “Star Award System” takes three food safety steps to reach HACCP with achievements being acknowledged on the way.

• The One Star Award provides basic food safety training to everyone in the business. (This involves one day training for proprietors, who go back to their business and overview in-house training of all staff. This is assessed by a trained food safety officer.)
• The Two Star Award is aligned with Codex principles of food hygiene – developing good food safety practices ie procedures and worksheets to support cleaning, sanitation, pest control, hygiene, deliveries, water quality, food storage etc (This involves one day training for 1-2 from business, documents and practices audited by trained food safety officer from provincial government)
• The Three Star Award is HACCP! (This requires attending a five day accredited course, implementing a program in the business and having it audited by a suitably trained food safety auditor.) After achieving the Three Star Award a business will be well-placed to implement an internationally accredited quality system if it chooses to.

In the last year, officers from the National Agency for Drug and Food Control have visited every province providing professional development training for over 1200 food inspectors which included socialising the IFSS and introducing the Food Watch and Food Stars Programs. The Food Stars Award has been piloted in four provinces and materials finalised for the One Star and Two Star levels for the food manufacturing sector. Materials have also been drafted for the Food Service sector.

Where next for the IFSS?

The Integrated Food Safety System is not a quick fix. It is all about providing a safe food supply by making the most of what is available. By communicating with each other, sharing information and working towards the common goal everyone is working together to improve food safety in Indonesia. Future initiatives will include:

• Producing materials to train food safety auditors in the practical aspects of auditing small to medium sized food businesses. Many food safety officers know the theory, but have very little practical experience.
• Developing Food Stars materials suitable for the Agriculture sector
• Developing the Rapid Response team communication strategy to synergise resources across governments during national emergencies
• Co-ordinating national food monitoring surveys, targeting areas of concern e.g. pesticide residues in food so that information from Food Watch reports may be developed for industry to improve practices
• Strengthening the laboratory network to support the Food Watch program.

The Integrated Food Safety System provides the national framework for food safety – it transcends government departments, academia, industry and consumers and enables them to work together to maximise resources and improve food safety Indonesia.