Officials at the ACT project consultation workshop. ©FAO/Samphors Pho

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and key stakeholders in food and agriculture in Cambodia, have identified priority actions for addressing foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as part of the Action to support implementation of Codex AMR texts (ACT) project. This was at a consultation workshop, which took place in Phnom Penh on 27 April 2023.

The ACT project is supporting the implementation of Codex standards related to the containment and reduction of foodborne AMR as well as monitoring and surveillance of antimicrobial use and resistance. It is being implemented from 2023 to 2025, by FAO and MAFF, with financial support from the Republic of Korea.

“I would like to express the government’s support in the fight against antimicrobial resistance as we aim to achieve smart agriculture and our commitment towards the One Health approach,” said Sar Chetra, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

AMR is a growing problem worldwide and is recognized as one of 10 global public health threats affecting negatively, human health, animals, plants and the environment. It is associated with nearly 5 million human deaths, globally, every year.

Dr. Tep Benthay, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, noted that the workshop was very important to support the agriculture sector. “Agriculture plays an important role to ensure food safety and security for our country’s livelihood. Foodborne AMR is a critical issue for public health, and the ACT project helps to take a step further in providing solutions to this issue,” Benthay said.

The consultation workshop had participation from 44 representatives from agriculture associations, academic institutions and from Government including Ministry of Environment and the General Department of Customs and Excise, and brought insights from participants in other FAO-administered AMR projects, such as those funded by the Fleming Fund, Multipartite Trust Fund, and the USAID-supported interventions. 

“The inclusion of these representatives helps to facilitate the cooperation and coordination of the different AMR projects in Cambodia. It is important to build a network of stakeholders and create synergies.  Under the ACT project, we have agreed on different awareness-raising activities or events, also, the training of trainers and expanding monitoring and surveillance of imported meat, imported fish and imported vegetables, as well as in domestic terrestrial and aquaculture farms,” said Pisey Oum, National Project Coordinator for FAO-ACT in Cambodia.

Upcoming activities include celebrating World Food Safety Day on 7 June 2023, reviewing the current AMR regulations, and developing training programmes to reduce antimicrobial use.  In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries will cooperate with private entities to collect and compile case studies from livestock farms and aquaculture facilities.

The ACT project is aimed at raising awareness and increase the use of Codex standards, with a specific focus on AMR, and developing an integrated monitoring and surveillance system of AMR and antimicrobial use in food production. It also aims to strengthen national capacity to manage the development and transmission of foodborne AMR through the adoption and implementation of Codex standards on foodborne AMR.

It is part of a broader programme, which at the global level is: developing tools and approaches to assess the use and impact of Codex standards, specifically, those related to the containment and reduction of foodborne AMR; to raise awareness, support implementation, and demonstrate the value of Codex standards; and to support data collection and analysis to inform risk assessment and management of foodborne AMR. The project is being implemented in Cambodia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Colombia, Peru.