By Hakim B. Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator, FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa

Food Safety Experts drawn from 23 African countries (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe) completed an intensive 5-day training session on Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) for animal disposition studies that was held in Rabat, Morocco ,31 March to 4 April 2025. The main purpose of the training was to build regional capacity and knowledge in good laboratory practices to support the process of food safety standard-setting when using large food animals.

The regional training was supported through a Technical Cooperation Project (RAF5091) on Enhancing human and analytical capacities for food safety standards coordinated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The project aims at addressing a critical gap in Africa’s food safety system, the need to establish or contribute to the setting of national, regional and international (Codex) standards and guidelines, required to safeguard consumers, ensure responsible food production practices and facilitate fair trade in agricultural products. Key deliverables from the project include the enhanced technical capacity for personnel and laboratories needed to conduct radio-labelled and non-radio-labelled activities for standards setting as well as supervised field trials.

Support will also be extended to improvement of food safety policy and regulatory framework(s) and enhancing surveillance programmes within the Member Countries, which contributes to the effective implementation of the continental food safety strategy and, ultimately, to fostering increased intra-African trade in food and agricultural products.

This training contributes to building the strong and sustainable capacity for Member Countries required to generate reliable scientific data that will be used for setting maximum residue limits (MRLs) and/or maximum levels (MLs) for a range of chemical hazards including veterinary and pesticide residues, mycotoxins and toxic metals, for a broad scope of foodstuffs.

While officiating at the opening of the regional training, Dr Sami Darkaoui, the Head of Division of Pharmacy and Veterinary Inputs at the Moroccan Office for Food Safety (ONSSA) underscored the need for the continent to build robust food safety assessment systems, which is important in contributing to regional and international standardization efforts. Dr Darkaoui further advised that study designs should be conducted in line with GLP requirements. He noted that additional capacity development events were planned to be held in May 2025 focussing on GLP in the area of pesticide residues, including attention to minor crops.

The trainees welcomed the initiative and continued support from IAEA which will go a long way in harmonizing the application and implementation of good laboratory practices in the continent.

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Photo credit: Muhammed Ait Lachguer