COVID-19 and Food Safety: Guidance for competent authorities responsible for national food safety control systems

WHO and FAO

COVID-19 and Food Safety: Guidance for competent authorities responsible for national food safety control systems

Interim guidance

Year of publication 2020

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 5p.

Author WHO and FAO

Publisher WHO and FAO ;

Product type Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

ISBN 978-92-5-132545-2

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents an exceptional and unprecedented challenge for competent authorities with responsibilities for national food safety control systems to continue conducting routine functions and activities in accordance with national regulations and international recommendations. In many countries, competent authority staff are largely working from home, teleworking being the normal practice, and all face-to-face meetings cancelled or rescheduled as teleconferences. It is challenging to maintain, without interruption, routine activities such as the inspection of food business operations, certifying exports, control of imported foods, monitoring and surveillance of the safety of the food supply chain, sampling and analysis of food, managing food incidents, providing advice on food safety and food regulations for the food industry, and communicating on food safety issues with the public. The guidance highlights temporary measures that can be introduced to contain widespread food safety risks and reduce serious disruption to national food safety programmes, aiming to ensure the effectiveness of a reduced food safety inspection programme during COVID-19 pandemic in mitigation the food safety risks.

See the full list of policy briefs related to COVID-19.

Cite this content as:

WHO and FAO. 2020. COVID-19 and Food Safety: Guidance for competent authorities responsible for national food safety control systems: Interim guidance. Rome.

https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8842en

Language English

Also available in:

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Poster, banner
10 things food safety authorities should know about COVID-19 2020

Also available in:

Arabic
Chinese
French
Russian
Spanish

Show more

This poster provides tips for maintaining the safety and integrity of the food supply chain in the time of COVID-19. It explains the top ten things food safety regulators need to know. Read more: COVID-19 and Food Safety: Guidance for competent authorities responsible for national food safety control systems [http://www.fao.org/3/ca8842en/ca8842en.pdf]
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

National stakeholder consultation on strengthening national capacity for risk-based food import control within One Health framework in Sri Lanka
Meeting summary report
2018

Also available in:

No results found.

The consultation meeting “Strengthening national capacity for risk-based food import control within a One Health Framework” was held on 30 November 2017 at Galle Face Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The main objective of the consultation was to validate the information presented in the draft report entitled “National situation of imported food controls in Sri Lanka”, and to identify the priority actions to be considered while developing a roadmap for effective risk-based imported food control in the country. Thirty-two participants attended the consultation, including high-level officials from imported food control-relevant government agencies, stakeholder groups and resource people, provided input during the plenary and group discussions following the presentation of the national situation report. Group discussions were held on four focus areas: Sri Lanka Customs, Plant Quarantine, Animal Quarantine and Sri Lanka Standards Institution. Requirements identified by the Customs Department included improving the Customs database so that information can be shared with all of the relevant stakeholders, and establishing an alert system for high-risk foods. Plant and animal quarantine groups stated the need for upgrading laboratory capacities (both technical and human), strengthening pre-border requirements with required certificates, and providing guidance on the approval of certain commodities. Requirements required by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution included improving existing regulations and standards to address globally emerging food safety issues, conducting risk-based country profiling, setting up a unit for surveillance and import trade analysis, improving communication mechanisms by establishing information sharing systems among stakeholders on the results of the sample analysis and certification systems. In order to strengthen the existing imported food control system, immediate actions based on these requirements are recommended and include: 1) organizing training sessions on risk categorization for food safety competent authorities, quarantine officers and custom officials; and 2) ensuring the use of a risk categorization list, developing standard operating procedures for sampling and inspection at the borders and organizing training sessions on imported food inspection for relevant officials; and 4) developing a single-window, information-sharing system among relevant agencies and importers. A roadmap for effective risk-based imported food control in Sri Lanka has been drafted, and a consultation with relevant high-level stakeholder representatives to validate and agree on the roadmap is suggested as a next step.
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

FAO COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme: Asia and the Pacific
Trade, intra-regional trade and food safety standards
2020

Also available in:

No results found.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures throughout Asia have had measurable impacts on trade flows, causing trade disruptions and temporary interruptions. Under COVID-19 lockdowns, cross-border trade either slowed or came to a halt due to border closures or direct import or export restrictions. International trade disruption also affected several countries, interrupting the flow of critical goods, staple foods, agricultural inputs and equipment needed for domestic food production, SDGs processing, and consumption. In the short-term, following COVID-19 lockdown, trade flows were more volatile for fresh produce, live animals, livestock products, and fresh or dry fish, all of which experienced a drop in demand and cancelled exports. This action sheet presents FAO's COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme's key priority area of "Trade, intra-regional trade and food safety standards" for Asia and the Pacific.