Windhoek — A situational analysis is being done on the current food control system in Namibia to be in compliance with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

Developing countries, including sub-Saharan Africa, are becoming more involved in the international food trade, causing a shift from traditional production of cash crops and raw materials to production of processed and semi-processed food products.

This shift has brought about new challenges to cope with international trends in food regulations and standards. These include legislation that needs upgrading, development of standards, establishment of sufficient and efficient accredited control laboratories, collaboration between governmental institutions and the food producing industry, and ultimately enforcement of standards.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Trade Protocol Annex on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures stipulates that member states should base their SPS measures on international standards and guidelines to harmonise these for agricultural and livestock production.

This protocol came into effect in September 2000, which put pressure on countries that are signatories to it to put in place supporting policies that will facilitate the free movement of goods and services in the region, as well as to enhance the region's trade with international partners.

The protocol further means a number of things to signatories. It means, among others, the contribution of the availability of a wider variety of choice of nutritious food; considerations for the consumer's health protection; an increase in foreign currency asset of the exporting countries; the enhancement of food safety systems of exporting countries in the long run; the prevention of food losses and contribution to food security; the harmonisation of food regulations and standards based on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; as well as the improvement of agricultural and agro-processing sector competitiveness.

Although Namibian legislation is outdated and scattered - with no one all-encompassing legislation dealing with food safety measures - the country's food safety standards are relatively high, agreed industry and government players.

But although a thorough review process has been done on the legislative environment in 2007, a recommendation for the promulgation of a modern legislative tool is still outstanding.

At SADC level, some progress has been made to harmonise SPS and food safety measures to increase trade in agriculture and agro-related commodities, and to develop improved safety standards.

Most SADC countries, however, are still confronted with difficulties to comply with the international SPS/food safety standards because they have neither the required integrated and coordinated infrastructure nor sufficient human resources.

Furthermore, clear information of SADC countries' compliance to international standards is lacking.

WTO members are entitled to determine their own SPS measures, provided that they are in accordance with the terms of the SPS agreement. But under the principle of harmonisation, WTO members are encouraged to base their SPS measures on the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) that deals with food safety.

Food-borne illness is a continuous threat, as food systems become more complex, and new hazards that could affect human health constantly being identified. With globalisation of the food trade, such illnesses have a greater risk. Food production, manufacturing and marketing is global in nature, and this means that the dissemination of infectious agents can have adverse effects in far-flung markets.

Under the WTO SPS Agreement the Codex Alimentarius Commission provides a benchmark for international harmonisation that must be enacted and enforced in each country's food legislation.

A food control system requires a shift of emphasis from end-product analysis to the control of processes required to meet the outcomes, and control of imported food products and ingredients.

In many countries, particularly developing countries, the inspecting and logistical capacities are limited, which means that a lot of what ought to be done does not happen. And sampling of end products is recognised as insufficient measures to control safety and quality of products.

Insufficient implementation of preventative measures along the food chain, more often than not inspections are reactive following reports of an outbreak of a food-borne disease. Food samples are tested to determine the quantity of food contaminants, including microbial pathogens, hazardous chemicals, natural toxins, and harmful parasites.

According to the SADC Secretariat, for modern food safety systems, food industries and other food businesses and retailers should have the prime responsibility to ensure the food on markets is fit for human consumption, with the recognition of the "farm to fork" approach, and the implementation of measures such as the Hazard And Critical Control Point (HACCP) rather than end-product testing.

Furthermore, SADC proposes that a food safety policy has to define clearly the complementary roles of governments and the food industry through voluntary safety assurance programmes where the industry is organised by sector activity - in other words, dairy, meat, and so on.

Consumer participation in the food safety debate is equally critical as consumers have the right to know and choose what they eat. Governments and the industries should therefore acknowledge consumers as part of the market preferences and requests.

Namibia's food regime is said to be excellent, with various ministries and institutions providing tests, inspections and certification of the food industry. But whether this is sufficient is open for debate.

What Namibia needs, said Ueritjiua Kauaria, General Manager: Standards Development and Cooperation of the newly established Namibian Standards Institution, is to identify all legislation pertaining to SPS and what interventions are required, such as its trading capacity at regional and international level.

There is also recognition that to have legislation is not the same as having sufficient implementation capacity.

"We normally have a good system on food in place, but we don't know where we are going," commented Kotie Cochlin, Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) Manager at Namibia Dairies. This, she said, notwithstanding the fact that Namibia's exports - in primarily meat and fish products - to the European market, a market known for its upkeep of high standards and stringent measures puts Namibia already ahead of other countries in terms of standards.

However, she said, Namibian manufacturers still need to get some countries in the SADC region to accept that Namibia is "really very good" in terms of food safety measures.

The biggest problem in food safety measures in the country, she commented, is Government's capacity to inspect and verify what the food industry is doing.

Namibia Dairies, like many other food industries, maintain internal inspections, while the Veterinary Services under the Ministry of Agriculture does external auditing of food products. The Ministry of Health and Social Services is responsible for implementing the Public Health Act, a piece of legislation that dates 1919, with regulations dating 1969.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry, said Edward Kamboau, Director of Commerce with the ministry, mostly concerns itself with the inspection of fish and fisheries products.

Kamboau said although Namibia standard in food safety is "reasonably high", a lot still has to be done to be WTO compatible, and that there is still a lot of room for improvement.

"The obligations under the WTO and other trade agreements are often onerous requirements, but we are doing comparably well and are pursuing a course to put things in place," added Kamboau.

Weaknesses in regulations, said Cochlin, need to be updated to comply with the SADC Protocol, arguing that Government is too slow to adapt to changes, while cautioning on an exercise that would reinvent what already exists.

Local authorities have to play their part in inspections of food outlets, with the City of Windhoek doing weekly inspections at all food outlets.

Such inspections, said Abraham Camm of the City of Windhoek, include samplings of food and water (bottled and tap water) taken to an independent laboratory, as well as an inspection of food handlers' hands for communicable diseases.

Standards, said Camm, are determined by complaints and food poisoning outbreaks, of which none has been recorded in the last eight years.

Of some concern, he said, is the informal food peddlers, but added that food sold by these establishments are often more fit for consumption that high-end institutions because the food is prepared and sold immediately and directly to the customers.

But, said Camm, Namibia's standards are up to scratch, again acknowledging that improvements need to be made.