A new food safety alert system is being developed with EU economic aid. (Photo: Stock File/FIS)

New warning system developed for food safety

INDONESIA
Thursday, March 04, 2010, 01:50 (GMT + 9)

The Indonesian government is working on an early warning system to ensure all imported food products meet both domestic and international safety standards. Chairwoman of the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) Kustantinah said on Tuesday that the system would be connected online throughout the archipelago and later to the systems of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and the European Union (EU).

“This system will disseminate a warning to other countries when a food product imported from a country has failed to meet the national and international standards applied in Indonesia,” she said. “The warning will be delivered from government to government because they are the ones that have the authority to take action.”

As opposed to the existing system, the new one will be integrated into the global food safety structure. It is currently being installed at the BPOM office in Jakarta and its reach will gradually extend to cover all the agency’s offices in the provinces and regencies, Kustantinah said, reports The Jakarta Post.

“We also need to work with other government agencies and ministries, including the Agriculture Ministry, the Trade Ministry, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Industry and the Industry Ministry to develop the system,” Kustantinah elaborated. “Eventually, our system will be connected online to that in other ASEAN countries … then the EU.”

Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam have implemented similar food safety warning systems. It will take four years for the new system, currently being constructed with EUR 15 million in technical assistance funds from the EU, to run at full capacity, the chairwoman said.

The funds were allocated to help Indonesia improve its export quality infrastructure and to ensure the compliance of Indonesian exports to EU and other international standards. The money is part of an assistance package from the European Commission (EC) worth EUR 30 million, according to Walter van Hattum, First Secretary of the Economic and Trade Section of the Delegation of the EC to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam.

“We have two big programs, EUR 15 million each. One is focusing on laboratory capacity so you can test [food quality] in Indonesia …,” he said. “That [system] also helps your exports because you can guarantee from Indonesia that your quality of food is at a good level.”

The next EUR 15 million-installment, called the “economic cooperation facility,” is still “under development,” he informed.

“What is important for Indonesia is that the EU market is around EUR 75 billion per year,” Van Hattum noted. “[...] But if Indonesia increases its quality and the predictability of its quality, then the access to the EU market will increase.”

Indonesian food products accounted for around 8 per cent of the country’s total exports to the EU last year and yielded EUR 13 billion, he added.

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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