The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations said on Tuesday that it would support Sri Lanka in establishing a well-coordinated food safety system in the country.
“The FAO will work closely with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health to implement institutional revisions in the country’s food safety policy and regulatory framework.
“It will work towards adopting preventive, risk-based measures across the supply chain, the FAO said in a statement.
The FOA said the challenges facing Sri Lanka’s food safety sector included weak regulatory and institutional frameworks that have led to vulnerabilities in supply chains and approach that does not consider every aspect of food supply chain from farm to table.
To respond to these gaps, the FAO would also work with the ministries related to agriculture, livestock development, and fisheries sectors.
It would also work with other agricultural and food sector stakeholders to achieve a complete transformation of food safety standards in the country via institutional as well as attitudinal shifts.
FAO Representative for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Vimlendra Sharan, said ensuring safe food for all Sri Lankans was not only a public health priority but also an economic necessity.
It said the current level of poor food safety standards in Sri Lanka not only impacted public health but also hampered Sri Lanka’s potential in international trade, particularly when trading with regions where markets were highly regulated.
It added that strengthening the food safety sector would not only alleviate the high cost of healthcare services but also create a resilient and competitive food industry in both domestic and international markets.
“It will combat the issue of food loss and waste, thereby contributing to overall food security in the country.
“A recent study by UNIDO revealed that an improvement in food safety practices in Sri Lanka through a 30-million-U.S.-dollar investment and an annual net budgetary commitment of nine million dollars could prevent at least 113 deaths annually.
“It will significantly boost annual export values, projected to increase by 24 per cent over a decade, according to the FAO. (Xinhua/NAN)
