News

Consultation workshop on “Private Sector Compliance and Official Control

The CAPFISH-Capture project organized a consultation workshop on “Private Sector Compliance and Official Control: A Roadmap Towards the DG SANTE Audit” to discuss key elements of the food safety system, gather more inputs, and receive suggestions to finalize the Official Control Protocol and roadmap to support FiA to effectively implement official control for ensuring the safety and quality of fish and fishery product along the product chain, as well as to prepare audit-ready for the EU General Directorate for Health and Food Safety (DG-SANTE) audit. The project is co-funded by the EU and jointly implemented by the រដ្ឋបាលជលផល Fisheries Administration (FiA) and UNIDO.

Training workshop on Food Safety Information Management System

Under the CAPFISH-Capture project, co-funded by the European Union in Cambodia, the Fisheries Administration (FiA) and UNIDO organized a training workshop on Food Safety Information Management System (FSIMS) to strengthen the capacity of food inspectors, and to update FSIMS database to align with the latest updated regulations of the EU on National Residue Monitoring Programme (NRMP). FSIMS is developed to digitalize NRMP and inspection data, as well as to list the inspected farms (under NRMP) and fisheries establishments in a web-based database system. The system supports the FiA in collecting, managing, analyzing, and reporting NRMP and inspection data in a more efficient and transparent way. The project is part of the UNIDO Programme for Country Partnership (PCP).

Awareness Training on NRMP and GAqP

FiA and UNIDO organized training to raise awareness of National Residue Monitoring Programme (NRMP) and to train aquaculture farmers on Good Aquaculture Practices (GAqP) and fish diseases and prevention. NRMP is a risk-based control plan for monitoring residues of veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) and environmental contaminants in fishery products from aquaculture farms in Cambodia. The program is now in its third year of implementation which is a pre-requisite for entry of Cambodia farmed fishery products globally, including the EU and protecting consumer safety. Effective NRMP implementation is essential to prevent chemical contaminants introduced into the products that could potentially link to development of antimicrobial resistance among other public health issues among consumers. This training is part of NRMP preventive actions to prevent such contamination from happening in aquaculture products.

Training on HACCP Application for Fish and Fishery Products

The Fisheries Administration (FiA) and UNIDO through CAPFish Capture project organized training on HACCP Application for Fish and Fishery Products which was held at Siem Reap Province, Cambodia for food safety trainers and CQS auditors. This training aimed to increase technical capacity of participants in food safety hazards associated with fishery products and Prerequisite Programmes, particularly the 12 steps and 7 principles of HACCP application. Through this training, food inspectors, food safety trainers and CQS auditors will be able to effectively implement food safety control programs as well as to provide assistance and guidance to fish establishments in implying food safety requirements.

Launching of CQS Certification Scheme

Fisheries Administration (FiA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries launched a newly developed food safety certification scheme called “Cambodia Quality Seal for fish and fishery products (CQS)” to promote food safety practices in the fishery sector. This standard requires fishery operations to implement minimum hygiene and sanitation requirements towards building consumer trust, protecting public health, and enhancing market access and export. CQS certification scheme was developed under the CAPFish Capture: Postharvest Fisheries Development project, co-funded by the European Union and implemented jointly by FiA and United Nations Industrial Development Organization. #CQS #Cambodia Quality Seal #Food safety

Accredited Lab To Boost Food Safety Nationwide

The Laboratory of Environment and Food Safety (LEFS) at Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC), is now accredited for food microbiology testing, enabling it to further assist food processing businesses to identify potential food safety hazards and improve the safety and quality of food products. In a joint release on Tuesday, IPC, Fisheries Administration, UNIDO and the EU said it will also contribute to Cambodia improving its export of processed agricultural products, including fishery products, to other potential importing countries, particularly ASEAN, China and the EU. “Now food importers, exporters, producers and regulatory agencies of Cambodia will find it easier to test their products. The laboratory tests and analyses all of the microbiological parameters of food and water samples with international standard methods,” they said in the release. They added that the certificate of analysis of accredited laboratories will enhance the credibility of test results generated from the laboratory, therefore providing assurance of the quality of products to the consumers. Andre Spiegel, Director of IPC, said the accreditation is another step in IPC’s goal to improve the quality of laboratory services in order to ensure accurate results for clients. “For public health, the authorities in Cambodia will be able to rely on this accredited laboratory, particularly in the field of food safety, but also the accreditation of such a laboratory will be useful to serve the industry in Cambodia, including food and fishery businesses,’’ Spiegel said. Shetty Thombathu, Chief Technical Advisor of CAPFish-CAPTURE: Post-harvest Fisheries Development Project, said that accredited laboratories such as LEFS play a key role to integrate Cambodian food products into global value chains. “Currently, such accredited testing facilities in the country are quite limited and Cambodia depends heavily on the accredited laboratories in neighboring countries for food testing, which is both time consuming and costly,” Thombathu said. CAPFish-CAPTURE is an EU-funded project that helped IPC with the accreditation process. The accreditation was issued by the International Accreditation Service (IAS) on September 6 and is the international standard in testing and calibration for laboratory quality management systems. It ensures full compliance of the ISO/IEC-17025:2017 concerning the sample preparation, storage and performance testing of food microbiological organisms. The LEFS of the IPC is now able to analyze samples for contaminants such as Salmonella, E. coli, Coliforms bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and culturable microorganisms at 30C in food products and animal feed, the release said. “This accreditation reflects the great effort and commitment of the IPC team to improve the testing capacity and services of LEFS to meet the latest and most stringent international standards for laboratory quality management systems,” the release added. “The accreditation has shown that the laboratory is competent for food microbiology testing informing global customers that test data supplied by the lab are accurate and reliable.”

Accreditation of Laboratory in Cambodia through CAPFish-CAPTURE Project Support

Accreditation of Laboratory in Cambodia through CAPFish-CAPTURE Project Support With support of the European Union, CAPFish-Capture: Post-harvest Fisheries Development Project, implemented by UNIDO and Fisheries Administration, is delightful to celebrate a great success in attaining accreditation of Laboratory of Environment and Food Safety of Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC). This achievement was the result of continued technical support to IPC after the official partnership agreement was signed between both parties. The accreditation was officially awarded by the International Accreditation Service on 6 September 2022. The accreditation to this lab will help Cambodia in achieving national and international recognition of test results and so the quality and safety of fishery products. This also allows Cambodia to improve its exports of processed agricultural products, including fishery products to other potential importing countries, particularly ASEAN, China, and the EU. Currently, such accredited testing facilities in the country are quite limited and the Kingdom depends heavily on the accredited laboratories in the neighboring countries for food testing, which is both time-consuming and costly. Learn further: https://bit.ly/3BkWPKZ, https://bit.ly/3BNg7KB

International accreditation to boost Cambodia’s food exports

The Laboratory of Environment and Food Safety (LEFS) at Institute Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC), a leading Cambodian non-profit research institution that conducts life sciences and health research as well as public services and training activities, has been accredited for food microbiology testing. According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)’s statement yesterday, the ISO/IEC-17025:2017 accreditation, issued by the International Accreditation Service (IAS) on September 6, 2022, is the international standard for testing and calibrating laboratory quality management systems, and ensures full compliance of the ISO/IEC-17025:2017 standards for sample preparation, storage and performance testing of microbiological organisms used for food. ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) form the specialised system for worldwide standardisation. ISO/IEC 17025 refers to the specific standard that lays out the requirements for testing and calibrations in laboratories. IPC’s laborartory of environment and food safety is now able to analyse samples for contaminants such as Salmonella, E coli, Coliform’s bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and culturable microorganism at 30 degrees Celsius in food products and animal feed. Dr She tty Thombathu, Chief Technical Advisor of CAPFish-CAPTURE: Post-Harvest Fisheries Development Project, said that accredited laboratories such as LEFS play a key role in integrating Cambodian food products into global value chains. He said that accredited testing facilities in the country are quite limited, and Cambodia depends heavily on the accredited laboratories in the neighboring countries for food testing which is both time consuming and costly. Professor Andre Spiegel, Director of IPC, said that the accreditation is another step towards IPC’s goal of improving the quality of laboratory services to ensure accurate results for our clients. He said that for public health, Cambodian authorities will be able to rely on this accredited laboratory, particularly in the field of food safety but also the accredited laboratory will be useful for other industries in the country such as agriculture and fishing.

CAPFish Project Sign Partnership Agreement with IPC for Laboratory Support

On June 15, 2022, Pasteur Institute of Cambodia (IPC) signed a partnership agreement with the EU supported CAPFish project to strengthen the capacity of IPC's food testing laboratories toward achieving ISO 17025 accreditation. This collective effort will enable IPC to conduct food analysis for microbiological tests with more reliable test results, which are critical for food businesses and export including the fishery industry. By this means, the test results generated by IPC's accredited laboratory will be accepted globally. The agreement is indeed one of key activities under CAPFish Project implementing by UNIDO and the Fisher Administration to strengthen institutional capacity and quality support services including laboratory testing which will eventually support the Competent Authority of the Fisheries Administration to effectively perform the Official Control and certification services in line with regional and international requirements, including the EU. As a result, it will support food and fishery businesses to comply with standards and market requirements.

Enhance Effective Participation in Codex Activities

Co-funded by the European Union, the CAPFish Capture – Postharvest Fisheries Development project jointly implemented by Fisheries Administration and UNIDO organized stakeholder consultation workshop on food safety legal framework in agri-food and fisheries sectors: Current Situation, Challenges and Roadmap on July 28, 2022. The workshop brought together stakeholders of agriculture and related sectors to discuss mandates of key authorities and identify priority needs to improve the food safety control system in agri-food sector. Based on the results of assessment and workshop outcomes, Official Control Protocols or Technical Guidelines will be developed for safety and quality control of exports and imports of fishery products for competent authority and all the operations along the value chains. The Country Legal Framework and Roadmaps to improve food safety compliance harmonized with ASEAN and EU compliance requirements will be also developed. A group of 50 relevant stakeholders, representing government agencies, the private sector, consumers, I/NGOs, and academic and research institutions participated in this workshop.