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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Thursday, June 03, 2004 - In an effort to uphold the level of vigilance
and monitoring required on the part of authorities charged to ensure that the
potential risks associated to foods and meat products remain minimal, a
sensitization meeting focussing on international and local trade regulations and
the implications such as contamination of food products will be the main focus
of a five day food safety workshop.
Organised by the Ministry of Health, Human Services, Family Affairs and Gender
Relations in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation, the
workshop will comprise representatives from various Caricom territories in the
Health, Agriculture and Manufacturing sectors. Acting Senior Environmental
Health Officer Parker Ragnanan explains that they key players must have accurate
information in their possession so that they can protect the public’s welfare.
“You would be required as a country involved in trade, to provide information on
the foods that you trade with, it means therefore that you will have to provide
accurate information, you’d also be able to facilities trade via certification,
also a country has the welfare of its people and therefore we must be in a
position to monitor the products that are imported into St. Lucia.
Mr. Ragnanan says the importance of Risk Analysis in Food Safety is clearly
underscored in light of outbreaks of diseases such as Bird flu and Mad Cow
Disease, which cause a direct impact on international trade and has raised
serious health concerns.
Resource persons from the Tuskegee University, USA, the University of the West
Indies, the US Department of Agriculture and the Pan American Health
Organization will instruct participants on a multiplicity of pertinent issues.
The PAHO funded workshop will be coordinated by Mr. Lloyd Webb and commences on
Monday 7th June at the Bay Gardens Hotel.
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