European Union to organise food-safety skills training

THE European Union says food safety and the protection of consumer interests are of increasing concern to the people, government, industries, international trading partners and trade organisations in Papua New Guinea.
Therefore, to help Papua New Guinea meet local and international standards of food safety, the European Union through the Trade Related Assistance Project Phase Two (TRA2), implemented by the Department of Trade, Commerce and Industry, is organising the training of 45 food safety inspectors and food authorised officers.
The aim of the training to take place in Lae, Rabaul and Port Moresby is to strengthen the capacities of national and provincial inspectors involved in health, industrial processing, export and import inspection.
The training will focus on skills development in food inspection and inform inspectors on international requirements on food safety in the food chain, referred to as the “from farm to table” concept.
The project will also facilitate consultative meetings between industry and academia to discuss in-house training of food handlers and quality controllers.
It is also to enhance quality production of safer foods and services in domestic and international markets.
Papua New Guinea has been a member of the World Trade Organisation since June 1996.
It is a signatory to the sanitary and phytosanitary measures WTO agreement. It confirms the right of WTO member countries to apply measures to protect human, animal and plant life and health.