With the increase in food recalls, consumers confidence in food safety is at an all time low. As a result, an increasing number of businesses throughout the food supply chain are seeking to develop a food safety management system that complies with a recognized global food safety certification standard. The International Food Safety Network has released the first in a series of Off-the-Shelf Food Quality and HACCP Manuals for Food Manufacturers. The manuals are written by industry experts with extensive experiences in developing food safety management systems that comply with local, national, as well as recognized certification standards such as the BRC Global Standard Food (version 5), IFS, SQF and ISO 9001:2008.

The manuals come with the benefit of e-support to assist the organization in tailoring the manuals to their own specific products and processes to ensure they are suitable, effective and sustainable in the long term. The manuals offer comprehensive policies, procedures, records, guidance documents and checklists; with the HACCP manual including an innovative HACCP Calculator, which guides the organization through the HACCP development process and the determination of critical control points. Contact: International Food Safety Network. Website: www.ifsqn.com; Or International Food Safety & Quality Network, c/o SaferPak Limited, 5 Westgate Avenue, Holcombe Brook, Ramsbottom, Bury, Lancashire BL0 9SS, the United Kingdom.
Source: www.theopenpress.com

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MFPI), India, is powering the nations food processing sector by helping to set up 350 food processing units as part of its target to create 10 million jobs by 2015 at a total investment of US$21.5 billion. As part of its Vision 2015 action plan, the Ministry has already helped create 4.7 million incremental jobs in the last four years through a series of measures. The Vision 2015 targets formulated in 2005 included increasing Indias level of food processing from an abysmal 6 per cent in 2004 to 20 per cent by 2015, value addition from 20 per cent in 2004 to 35 per cent, and share in global trade from 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent. As a result of the slew of initiatives introduced by the national government and MFPI during the last five years, the food processing sector has made rapid strides and is well on its way to achieve the targets set for 2015. To achieve the Vision 2015 targets, the Ministry has identified as many as 13 key areas where action needs to be taken. The Ministry has also identified nearly 100 measures to facilitate and enable rapid development of the food processing sector.
Source: pib.nic.in

The Pakistan Food Association (PFA) and Pakistan Flour Mills Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the local food industry. According to Mr. Rafiq Rangoonwala, President of PFA, the objective of PFA is to provide a single platform to all the stakeholders in the local food industry to experience and share problems. Moreover, PFA is keen to disseminate information about the chain process in the food industry and to show that Pakistans food industry is well equipped with state-of-the-art, world-class standards.
Source: www.dailytimes.com.pk

The Department of Agriculture (DA), the Philippines, is promoting halal activities, especially in Mindanao. At a recent International Halal Assurance Seminar, DA Secretary Mr. Arthur Yap stated that the DA is conducting training and seminars on the proper production, processing and marketing of halal cereal and vegetable crops, fruits, meat, milk, fish and other commodities. DA reports that Mindanao has a competitive edge over other nations in the region because it is free of the foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza (bird flu). In addition, Mindanao has a reliable supply of feed ingredients for halal food production, such as corn, rice, copra meal, fish meal and palm oil. DA has arranged separate discussions with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Brunei, which are looking at investments worth billions in the domestic halal sector, particularly in Mindanao. The global halal food market is estimated at about US$500 billion annually and the Philippines is aiming to capture an initial 1 per cent share (US$5 billion) of this market through exports.
Source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Over a dozen food companies from the Republic of Korea will set up a joint inspection lab in China to check the safety of products and ingredients used by their plants in the country. This move is a result of Seouls measure to impose tougher sanitation rules for food imported under an original equipment manufacturing arrangement between local companies and their overseas suppliers. The Korea Food and Drug Administration said 14 companies that are operating food ingredient and production plants in China have reached an understanding to invest a total of US$2.97 million to build a testing facility in Chinas Qingdao province. Food and beverage companies have agreed on the total and are currently reviewing investment details.
Source: www.koreaherald.co.kr

In 2008, tea production in Sri Lanka recorded an increase while Kenya saw a significant drop; this is according to John Keells PLCs 2008 edition of its annual Tea Review. Discussing the impact of the global economy on the tea industry, the Review also portrays a comprehensive account of global and local tea production and exports together with the performances of the Westerns, Nuwara Eliya, Uva, CTC, Low Growns, Dust and Off-Grades markets. According to the Review, 2008 witnessed unprecedented volatility for tea prices around the world. Sri Lankas tea prices touched historical heights up to the third quarter due to restricted supply from major tea producing countries, mainly Kenya. The uncertainty created in the tea industry by the world cash crunch left a large percentage of teas offered at the Colombo auctions unsold owing to the absence of equitable bids. This created a cash flow crisis right through the supply chain. The tea industry benefited by timely state intervention while action by the Sri Lanka Tea Board also facilitated a reduction in the percentage of unsold teas and in the process, injected much needed cash flows for the producer.

World tea production in 2008 stood at 3.7 billion kilograms 12 million kilograms less than that recorded in 2007. A significant drop in production was recorded from Kenya, with about 24 million kilograms deficit compared with 2007. Meanwhile, China and Sri Lanka achieved an increase in production by about 20 million kilograms and 14 million kilograms, respectively. India too recorded an increase of 36 million kilograms. World tea exports stood at 1.6 billion kilograms 71 million kilograms more than the previous year. Kenya retained its position as the largest exporter with a volume of 383.4 million kilograms, which is an increase of 11.6 per cent over 2007. Sri Lanka was the second largest exporter. India, Indonesia and China also recorded increases in their exports for 2008, while exports by Argentina, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi decreased.
Source: www.dailymirror.lk

The decision by the Russian government to cancel import sales tax for a wide range of machines and plants has made technology suppliers happy. The regulation no. 372 defines a list of machines and equipment for which no import sales tax will be charged starting in July 2009. Some food and packaging commodity groups are also affected by this. It is estimated that foreign manufacturers can achieve savings of up to 18 per cent due to this new regulation.
Source: www.meatinternational.com

A scheme to upgrade the hygiene and quality of street food in India has been pending since last year. This proposal is likely to be cleared within a few months as the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MFPI) has initiated discussions with stakeholders and other authorities. MFPI will bring out guidelines for all the street food joints, besides launching several initiatives to spread awareness among the vendors. It plans to bring 10,000 street food vendors under its scanner once the proposed programme is introduced. As per the programme, 10 food streets with ethnic cuisines will be identified and the majority of stakeholders will be upgraded in terms of quality and hygiene.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India will work along with the Quality Council of India to identify the agencies to ensure the quality of street food joints, instead of appointing food inspectors. Efforts would be made to make it mandatory for the food vendors to register with the local authorities. The government is also considering introducing food safety programmes in the school curriculum. Mr. Ashok Sinha, Secretary, MFPI, stated that the Ministry has been in touch with the industry, academia and institutes to take up the concept of quality because the Indian food industry should ensure high standards of quality in order to achieve the goal of becoming the food factory of the world.
Source: www.fnbnews.com

In its upcoming trade policy for 2009-2010 the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan, has not made any significant interventions to boost agricultural produce, even with trade imbalance of over US$17 billion in the outgoing fiscal year. Like previous trade policies, the Ministry is only introducing cosmetic measures for enhancing agri exports and curtailing foreign imports to meet the local demand. The trade imbalance of the whole fiscal year 2008-2009 was a record US$17.04 billion against the previous years US$20.91 billion, with exports of US$17.78 billion against the target of US$22.1 billion, while imports stood at US$34.82 billion against last years imports of US$39.96 billion. A major incentive of granting 6 per cent R&D on exports of processed food is proposed for encouraging research and development in the food sector and it will also help the farming community to minimize the post-harvest losses, an official document revealing agriculture incentives in the policy said.
Source: www.thenews.com.pk

The Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Regional Office No. XIs Davao Food Safety Team (DFST) has helped three banana processors in the region. It conducted trainings on good manufacturing practices (GMP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) for Sagrex Foods Inc. (SFI), a manufacturer and exporter of frozen Saba banana products. DFST is committed to assist SFI in aligning its manufacturing systems to GMP and facilitating HACCP certification. SFI is also being assisted by DFST in the laboratory analysis of its products such as microwaveable banana, banana fries and turon.

DFST assisted Tropical Synergy International, a banana chips manufacturer and exporter, align its procedures and plant facility to GMP. GMP documentation and HACCP training were conducted for the firms management and employees. DFST is focusing on providing consultancy assistance to Tropical Synergys plant layout and design of their newly constructed manufacturing facility. DFST has been helping Koki Food International, another banana chips manufacturer and exporter, improve its plant layout and the existing manufacturing practices. In January 2009, the processing plant was assessed by the DFST in terms of its compliance to basic food hygiene and GMP. Subsequently, an in-house GMP training was conducted for the companys food handlers and employees. DFST continues to provide technical support for the banana processors in order to ensure food safety and high quality of products.
Source: www.pia.gov.ph

The Republic of Koreas traditional chilli paste, fermented bean products and ginseng-derived goods have received recognition as distinct foods from an international standard-setting commission. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported that food standards forwarded by the Republic of Korea on chilli paste, known as gochujang, fermented soybean paste and ginseng products have passed all review processes set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Ministry said members of the regional standard commission agreed to recognize the three types of food. Gochujang is a spicy sauce made from powdered red chilli peppers, salt and vinegar, while the ginseng root is widely used as a health food and dietary supplement. The bean paste, used widely in soups and sauces, is a distinct part of the culinary heritage.
Source: www.koreaherald.co.kr