13. The Committee was informed of the importance of the Recommended Code of Practice - General Principles of Food Hygiene and its annex on the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point System (HACCP) and Guidelines for its Application, in assuring food safety. The Committee recognised the relevant roles of the industry, government, scientific organizations and consumers in the implementation of the General Principles. For the attainment of desired benefit in the application of the General Principles, the Committee was informed that it was absolutely necessary to have in place Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) and/or Good Hygienic Practice (GHP). The Committee noted the recently published report of the FAO/WHO Consultation on the role of government agencies in assessing HACCP[5].
14. The Committee fully supported the concept of HACCP and the need to implement the General Principles and GMP’s. However, the Committee recognised that there was severe lack of expertise in this area in the region. In many countries in the Region, the economy was based on medium and small-scale enterprises where it was difficult to fully implement HACCP as outlined in the Guidelines. Delegations stressed the need for training in various aspects of the application of the Recommended International Code of Practice - General Principles of Food Hygiene and HACCP. Some countries reported on the progress made in applying HACCP mainly by large and specialised industries, such as in export fish processing.
15. The Delegation of Morocco informed the Committee that administrative audit was being used in order to ensure that established procedures/conditions were strictly adhered to and implemented. The Delegation also reported that activities such as strengthening of food legislation, the involvement of food industry in various steps of implementation of the HACCP system or the organization of workshops on this system would contribute to a better application of the General Principles.
16. On the request of the Chairman, Mr Thomas Billy (USA), reported on experience as regards the implementation of HACCP in the United States. In order to provide assistance and guidance to facilitate the process, generic models on how to implement HACCP for meat and poultry industry had been developed. The Committee was informed of the progress being made in implementing HACCP in small plants (less than 10 employees). In order to enhance the process more than 100 workshops had been held in the country. It was pointed out that a very effective training tools were “pilot plants” where volunteer companies were encouraged to implement HACCP and to share their experience with others. Mr Billy noted that smaller plants found it more difficult to implement HACCP fully.
17. The Committee concluded that adequate good manufacturing, agricultural or hygienic practices were prerequisites for the adequate implementation of HACCP. The Committee also expressed concern as regards the application of HACCP by medium and small-scale enterprises, and stressed the need for various kinds of training, especially training of trainers. The Committee urged FAO and WHO to provide assistance in this area.
