During its eighth session of the first regular session of the eighteenth legislative term, which was held under the chairmanship of His Excellency Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Council, yesterday evening in Zayed Hall at the Council’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, the Federal National Council adopted a number of recommendations during the discussion of the topic “Government Policy on Food Safety,” which confirmed There is a need to expedite the completion of all systems related to food safety, and to increase coordination between the competent authority and concerned parties to ensure effective application and verification of food safety, and to complete the development, standardization and implementation of the National System for Registration of Food Products (ZAD), especially with regard to the procedures and conditions for food or feed registration and control. on him.
In the recommendations, the Council stressed the need to activate the role of the National Food Safety Committee, with the aim of increasing coordination efforts at the national level to follow up on the correct implementation of the law by the local competent authorities or federal authorities concerned with food safety to avoid discrepancies in its application, and the importance of having federal legislation supporting the food safety law. Which aims to protect people from potential risks from foods that are harmful to health, and develop a unified national approach to dealing with risks related to food safety, to support the decisions of regulatory bodies and their operations. And prepare unified legislation to regulate household food control in coordination with the relevant authorities, aiming to enhance the guarantee of Controlling these foods, regulating the circulation of these products in sales outlets, and adopting unified standards and controls for food advertisements in coordination with the relevant authorities, includes regulation and oversight of electronic food promotion, to reduce misleading foods, and developing a unified list of administrative measures and penalties that includes specifying the types of violations according to their type and seriousness. The violation and the administrative penalties resulting from it, in coordination with the relevant local authorities.
The recommendations called for the necessity of accelerating the activation of the Federal Food Safety Index project, in accordance with the requirements of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to develop the capabilities of the regulatory authorities, enhance the state’s rank in enhancing food safety, increase the budget allocated to developing the food safety index, determine the targeted localization rate with the relevant authorities, and coordinate with Institutions of higher education; To determine the specializations that match the requirements of the labor market, develop incentives to attract national cadres, create a platform, database, and a dedicated government website that addresses all issues related to food safety regulation, and accelerate the adoption of the best technological programs and smart applications, to enhance inspection and control operations to ensure food safety., and activate management. Monitoring and investigating the number of cases of individuals infected with food-borne diseases at the state level, in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Community Protection through a joint electronic system, determining the skills and knowledge content of training courses for food handlers, accrediting qualified training companies, and the necessity of the Ministry developing a plan to enhance the awareness and cultural aspect. Food safety, safe food handling and consumer protection for all segments of society.
The Council discussed this issue in the presence of Her Excellency Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak Al Shamsi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, from two axes: national legislation related to food safety, and state policies and strategies related to food safety.
The Council agreed to return the recommendations of the Health and Environmental Affairs Committee to reformulate them according to the members’ discussions and the responses of the government representative, to be submitted to the Council and then to be submitted to the government.
Her Excellency the Minister of Climate Change and Environment stressed that the subject of the government’s policy on food safety, and the recommendations presented by the committee, are considered of great importance to improve the food safety system in the country, noting that it is a shared responsibility between all parties at the federal level, the competent authorities, at the local level, and also individuals. .
She gave an introductory presentation on the food safety system in the UAE, by addressing the legislation concerned with food safety, which aims to ensure the safety of food in circulation and monitor it throughout all the supply chains that it passes through in order to protect the consumer and ensure and facilitate the movement of food in a way that enhances food security over national security.
Her Excellency said that the Ministry and the competent authorities are working to implement their competencies and powers, foremost of which is establishing federal legislation and unifying procedures in coordination with all competent authorities and ensuring their implementation, and providing the capabilities for local authorities to implement the requirements of this law, referring to food safety governance at the national level, where ministerial decisions and regulations have been issued, The Ministry worked to develop systems that ensure the enforcement of the federal law on food safety and the availability of statistics, in addition to the role of national committees.
It also discussed the most important achievements, including the food certification and registration system, the launch of the national program for monitoring pesticide residues in food, the early reporting system for biosecurity, and international notification and reporting systems on food safety.
His Excellency Saqr Ghobash said that the Council is working in an integrated manner with the government and this is an opportunity for the discussion to be on one of the most important topics that falls within the Ministry’s responsibility. We hope that these discussions will serve this file due to its importance, pointing to the importance of having a body concerned with medicine and food to integrate efforts at the federal level. It enhances the Ministry's role in this field.
The council then proceeded to discuss the general topic.
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