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| Agenda Item 7 | Conference Room Document 16 English only |
FAO/WHO Regional Conference on Food Safety for Asia and Pacific
Seremban, Malaysia, 24-27 May 2004
The progress, experience and lessons learned in the bilateral technical cooperation in the food safety fields through "JICA project for Strengthening Food Safety Programme in Malaysia"
(Japan)
The need for safe food is fundamental throughout the world and is a major concern globally. However, with the expansion and globalization of food trade as well as advancement and development in farming practices and food processing, ensuring food safety has become more complicated. In these circumstances, capacity building in food safety is crucial to keep up with new issues on food safety due to advances in science and technology.
The Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has fully supported capacity building in food safety fields through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)1 technical cooperation. JICA has been engaged in two “Technical Cooperation projects”2 in support of capacity building in the food safety area through the sharing of knowledge and experience. One is in Thailand (April 1994-April 2000) and the other is in Malaysia (June 2001-May 2005), which is still on-going. “Technical Cooperation Project” activity was basically implemented in an integrated manner through the dispatch of Japanese long- and short-term experts for hands-on trainings, counter-part training in Japan and the provision of necessary equipment. In each project, long- and short-term experts stayed at a relevant food safety authorities and laboratories.
The approach applied for capacity building, the current progress made and lessons learned through Technical Cooperation Project “The Project for Strengthening Food Safety Programme in Malaysia” (hereinafter referred to as “the project”) are introduced in this paper.
In order for Malaysia to progress towards the status of a developed country, which is scheduled for 2020, food safety is a vital and indispensable component, as it contributes not only to health and productivity but also provides an effective platform for development. Realizing this Malaysia has undertaken various initiatives to strengthen its food safety programme. One of the main initiatives recently undertaken to strengthen food safety in Malaysia is the joint technical cooperation project between JICA and Malaysia for 3 years (2001 June to 2004 May).
Before the commencement of the Project, a Japanese long-term expert was dispatched to look into the existing food safety management system in Malaysia. Based on this information and with the help of JICA consultation teams, a Project Design Matrix, which outlined the project’s purpose, its outcomes, activities and input to be carried out, was developed. The project purpose is to increase the availability of safe food for Malaysian consumers and its outputs are as follows:
To achieve purpose and to gain output, the project carried out a series of activities such as strengthening food safety administration, capacity building for food analysis, strengthening food inspection and technical guidance, and development and promotion of food safety information for consumers and food handlers.
Capacity building in food analysis is a prerequisite not only for identification of hazards in food for strategic planning purposes but also to assess and manage these risks. Upgrading analytical capability will facilitate the generation of reliable and accurate data for assessing risk management options and making risk management decisions related to policy and regulatory enhancement. However, food analysis technology, which requires precise and sophisticated instruments, has been advancing rapidly and analysts need to keep up with such developments. During the initial phase of the Project, the following limitations were identified;
Taking the identified limitations into consideration, a consensus was reached to adopt the following approach for capacity building in food analysis:
Since the project started almost 3 years ago, JICA has dispatched three long-term experts and 24 short-term experts, accepted 17 counterparts from Malaysia to Japan for training, and provided state-of-the-art machinery. As a result of collaborative efforts, progress has been made in capacity building in food analysis, food import control network systems and monitoring programmes.
2.4.1 Analytical capability
With respect to capacity building for food analysis, the project focused on the transfer of analytical skills in the areas of pathogenic bacteria, pesticide residue, veterinary drug residue, mycotoxins, nutrients, genetically modified food and food packages. As a result of the combined hands-on training on food analysis, both in Japan and Malaysia, analytical capability at the identified core laboratory was strengthened and analytical methods were developed and documented as Standards Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Table 1: Numbers of analytical parameters before and after the project
Before Project |
After Project | |
Microbiology |
12 |
17 |
Pesticide |
17 |
56 |
Veterinary drugs |
2 |
18 |
Mycotoxins |
1 |
3 |
GMO |
0 |
5 |
Nutrition |
0 |
6 |
Food package |
0 |
10 |
2.4.2 Import Food Inspection
During the process of developing an import food control network system, JICA experts were dispatched to transfer their knowledge based on the Japanese experience. The interactions between JICA experts and their Malaysian counterparts enhanced motivations among the Malaysian counterparts, which could be one of the keys to its success. The development of the import food control network system, called "Food Safety Information Management System in Malaysia (FoSIM)", will facilitate the application of an integrated and scientific based import food control system.
2.4.3 Monitoring
With the enhancement of laboratory capability, additional baseline data are currently being collected through the initiation of monitoring programmes such as school hostel’s kitchen survey, pesticide residue and veterinary drug residues monitoring, and microbiological risk assessment of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. These data will facilitate the identification of problematic areas and contribute further to the strengthening of the food safety programme.
For example, based on the assessment of the bacterial survey of school hostel kitchens, critical points, which needed to be controlled, were identified. Based on these critical points identified, food hygiene guidelines for management and food handlers at school hostel kitchens were developed.
In addition, 15 educational materials such as a poster “Bacteria causing Food Poisoning” were developed and distributed.
JICA’s final evaluation based on the five criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of this Project was evaluated as "high". This evaluation concluded that the Projects purpose has almost been achieved except for a quality assurance programme in food analysis and a strengthening of monitoring programme, and this success is largely due to the high level commitment and ownership by the Malaysian side. This commitment and ownership is key for the success and further improvement of food safety programmes in a sustainable manner.
The commitment and ownership by the recipient side is crucial to ensuring the sustainability of the Project. This was very obvious during this Project as can be seen by the Malaysia commitment as follows:
Japanese experts who trained Malaysian counterparts in Japan were sent to Malaysia to carry out hands-on training sessions for the same Malaysian counterparts. This approach was very effective both for the Japanese experts and Malaysian counterparts as this made it easy to share the experiences and knowledge, which facilitates technical cooperation smoothly.
Echo training means counterparts who have received technical transfer from Japanese experts, act as trainers to train other food analysts in Malaysia. Through echo trainings, the counterparts can also learn by teaching as well as the trainees can learn. The above two approaches are effective for human resource development.
To ensure the technical transfer of food analysis using precision instruments such as GC-MS in sustainable manner, a more integrated instruments' maintenance mechanism including communication with supplier/manufacture support for trouble shooting and supplier/manufacture regular prevention checks should be taken into consideration in advance.
1 JICA has supported socio-economic and human-resource development in order to facilitate the autonomous, sustainable development of developing countries as one of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) implementing bodies. JICA is mainly responsible for implementing technical cooperation for developing countries.
2 “Technical Cooperation Project” involves providing support for the training of personnel required to achieve social and economic progress in developing countries and for the development and diffusion of technology and skill. Elements such as the dispatch of experts, acceptance of training participants and provision of equipment are organically linked so as to realize a form of technical cooperation in which every aspect (from the formulation of plans to their execution and evaluation) falls within a fully integrated whole.