Food Control System Assessment Tool Introduction And Glossary

The main objective of the tool is to propose a harmonized, objective and consensual basis to analyse the performance of a national food control system. It is intended to be used by countries as a supporting basis for self-assessment to identify priority areas of improvement and plan sequential and coordinated activities to reach expected outcomes, and by repeating the assessment on a regular basis, countries can monitor their progresses. The Tool is based on Codex principles and Guidelines for National Food Control Systems as well as other relevant Codex guidance for food control systems, which are referenced throughout the document. Its scope is given by the dual objectives quoted in Codex guidance for these systems: protect health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade. This introductory volume presents the FAO/WHO Food Control System Assessment Tool, providing background to its development and outlining its main scope and objectives. It presents a thorough review of the assessment Tool structure, breaking it down into its constitutive elements (dimensions, sub-dimensions, competencies and assessment criteria). Finally, it gives an overview of the assessment approach, from the ratings to the descriptive analysis supporting the allocation of scores. The volume also contains a glossary of useful terms and the list of Codex documents referenced in the Tool.

National food control system plays a pivotal role in protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in food trade. When we are able to assess performance of the system in a comprehensive way, it can identify priority areas of improvement and plan sequential and coordinated activities to reach expected outcomes. To demonstrate good performance of the system gives an opportunity to Member states for new markets, to improve trading relationships and to build stakeholder confidence domestically as well. FAO and WHO jointly developed a comprehensive tool to assist Member states in assessing the effectiveness of national food control system. The FAO/WHO Food Control System Assessment Tool comprises 162 assessment criteria under 25 system competencies over 4 Dimensions. This introductory booklet is designed to facilitate application of the assessment tool, and competent authorities are able to have an overview by this booklet before they initiate the assessment. This booklet includes several interactive buttons and links to better browse the document. Interactive tools (such as texts underlined in orange) includes also “pop-up” additional notes which can be opened clicking on the symbol +.

The main objective of the Food control system assessment tool is to propose a harmonized, objective and consensual basis to analyse the performance of a national food control system. It is intended to be used by countries as a supporting basis for self-assessment to identify priority areas of improvement and plan sequential and coordinated activities to reach expected outcomes, and by repeating the assessment on a regular basis, countries can monitor their progresses. The Tool is based on Codex principles and Guidelines for National Food Control Systems as well as other relevant Codex guidance for food control systems, which are referenced throughout the document. Its scope is given by the dual objectives quoted in Codex guidance for these systems: protect health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade. DIMENSION A is part of the Food control system assessment tool and aims at mapping the fundamental elements necessary for the system to operate. These range from the policy and legal foundation of the food control system, to the fundamental inputs that should feed into the system to make it work properly: the financial resources to sustain the system; the infrastructure to enable the food control activities to take place; and the analytical resources to support official controls over food. It also analyses the issues related to food control personnel and the importance of their qualifications, professional development and motivation to contribute towards the achievement of the food control policy outcomes. While working through the dimension, the assessment process will evaluate the logical relationship between strategic planning to reach policy objectives and to implement legal requirements, and the available resources. This relationship, which can result in a feedback loop (adjusting strategies and considering policy choices to reflect resource constraints), is the underlying thread of Dimension A.

This catalogue aims to improve the dissemination and outreach of FAO’s knowledge products and overall publishing programme. By providing information on its key publications in every area of FAO’s work, and catering to a range of audiences, it thereby contributes to all organizational outcomes. From statistical analysis to specialized manuals to children’s books, FAO publications cater to a diverse range of audiences. This catalogue presents a selection of FAO’s main publications, produced in 2021 or earlier, ranging from its global reports and general interest publications to numerous specialized titles. In addition to the major themes of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, it also includes thematic sections on climate change, economic and social development, and food safety and nutrition.

The main objective of the Food control system assessment tool is to propose a harmonized, objective and consensual basis to analyse the performance of a national food control system. It is intended to be used by countries as a supporting basis for self-assessment to identify priority areas of improvement and plan sequential and coordinated activities to reach expected outcomes, and by repeating the assessment on a regular basis, countries can monitor their progresses. The Tool is based on Codex principles and Guidelines for National Food Control Systems as well as other relevant Codex guidance for food control systems, which are referenced throughout the document. Its scope is given by the dual objectives quoted in Codex guidance for these systems: protect health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade. Dimension B is part of the Food control system assessment tool and focuses on the processes and the outputs of the control activities inherent to a national food control system. It reviews the control functions exercised by CAs over Food Business Operators (FBOs), be it at domestic, import or export level, to guarantee food safety and quality for national consumers along the food chain and fair trade practices. It also maps the control functions and mechanisms at the overall food supply level, necessary to identify, monitor, predict and handle food safety hazards and emerging risks and to deal with food emergencies. The main mechanisms that should be in place include data collection programmes on food products (also referred to as monitoring programmes), data collection programmes on food-borne diseases (also referred to as surveillance programmes), as well as programmes aiming at managing food safety emergencies.

Ensuring the safety of food and the quality and safety of medicines in a country is an important role of government, made more complicated by global manufacturing and international trade. By recent estimates, unsafe food kills over 400,000 people a year, a third of them children under 5, mostly in low- and middle-income countries; every year poor quality medicines cause about 70,000 excess deaths from childhood pneumonia and roughly 8,500 to 20,000 malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa alone. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Global Policy and Strategy is charged with improving capacity of the agency's foreign counterpart offices and increasing understanding of the importance of regulatory systems for public health, development, and trade. At the request of the FDA, this study sets out a strategy to support good quality, wholesome food and safe, effective medical products around the world. Its goal is to build on the momentum for strengthening regulatory systems and to set a course for sustainability and continued progress. The 2012 report Ensuring Safe Food and Medical Products Through Stronger Regulatory Systems Abroad outlined strategies to secure international supply chains, emphasized capacity building and support for surveillance in low- and middle-income countries, and explored ways to facilitate work sharing among food and medical product regulatory agencies. This new study assess progress made and the current regulatory landscape.