FAO and WHO support performance assessment of Tunisia's National Food Control System
Tunis, 4 April, 2019: The validation workshop of the results of the evaluation of the national food control system in Tunisia. It is the culmination of several essential steps started in 2018 by FAO, in partnership with the Tunisian government and various stakeholders, of the control system as part of a regional project in collaboration with UNIDO. During the workshop, the aim was to return the results of the evaluation and to identify priority actions to improve the efficiency of the system. The tangible product is to provide the country with a strategic framework capable of maintaining the excellence of certain aspects of its current system and of progressively strengthening the competencies involved. Moreover, this framework should be used to check the coherence of the different planned interventions of national level programs and to guide discussions with the technical and financial partners.
In his speech, Mr. Mounir Romdhani, Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Health, recalled that food trade is experiencing major developments worldwide. Economic openness and the development of exchanges between different countries have contributed to the rapid movement of food products and to the complexity of their production methods. However, the considerable development of food industry technologies and the intensive use of inputs in agricultural production in particular require appropriate measures to reduce the health risks associated with the consumption of foodstuffs.
FAO food safety standards to protect consumers
In the face of current and future global food safety challenges, FAO and WHO are working together to strengthen commitments at the highest political level and to enhance food safety in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
To this end, FAO and WHO are collaborating to provide member countries with a tool to assess, in a structured, transparent and measurable way, the performance of their food control system along the food chain and to measure and evaluate progress over time.
In his address, Mr. Philippe Ankers, FAO Coordinator for North Africa, said that the FAO/WHO National Food Control Systems Assessment Tool is the only tool that allows a global analysis while proposing a mechanism and a common framework for evaluation and improvement. This tool supports regional integration and serves as a guide for building capacity at the national level.
The use of this tool provides the national food control system with a baseline for directing and measuring progress and improvement. Its design is based on the principles of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, whose mission is to propose standards and recommendations to protect the health of consumers, promote fair trade practices and serve as a basis for harmonized food standards that facilitate international trade.
The strategic framework developed during the workshop is based on the recommendations of the evaluation and validated by the participants. It proposes a program of actions aimed at strengthening the implementation of the political, legal and institutional framework of the controls, supported by adequate human, financial and analytical resources. It also includes a component aimed at strengthening a risk-based approach to the control of food produced in Tunisia as well as imported, supported by a multi-year national control program and a strengthening of the foodborne disease surveillance system. Another part of this strategic program aims at strengthening the interactions between competent authorities and economic operators in the food sector, including small operators, consumers, international organizations and other partners. Finally, an anchoring of the practice of risk analysis as well as the continuous improvement of the control system are the subject of the final part of this strategic framework.